Size Matters

Here’s an interesting study that came out in 2010 comparing the perceptions, behavior and training of larger versus smaller dogs (“Behavior of smaller and larger dogs: Effects of training methods, inconsistency of owner behavior and level of engagement in activities with dogs.” Arhant et. al. Appl An Beh Sci 123 (2010), 131-142.)

There’s a lot in this study, based on 1,276 questionnaires, but the part I want to talk about today relates to owner’s perceptions of dogs of different sizes. I’m always suspicious of data from surveys about behavior, since what we think an animal does and what it really does is often not the same, but because these surveys were about perceptions as well as behavior they definitely have some merit.

The authors found that, as they summarize in the abstract, “.. smaller dogs are seen as less obedient, more aggressive and excitable… and more anxious and fearful.” Note that this doesn’t mean that they are, but that they are perceived to be so. They also found, no surprise here, that owners report doing significantly less “training and play activities” with small dogs.

As I read the results, I find myself thinking of Tootise, and how I treat her compared to all the other dogs I’ve had (all medium to large dogs). And there is indeed a difference. When Tootsie first came I obsessively worked on 1) a response to her name, 2) coming when called and 3) house training. She’s done absolutely beautifully on all three, and focusing on them means she can go outside in the yard without a leash (although I watch her obsessively), comes running when called, ears flapping, and is as reliably house trained as any dog could possibly be. She’s also stopped barking for her dinner and to get me up in the morning (food prep now results in tiny, mouse-like squeaks), but we still are working on barking while being restricted in space when I’m in the house (rather than having a small, food-crazed bundle of fur dancing on the equipment while doing Willie’s exercises, for example). And now she has a stunning heel on the way to the barn and back, taught specifically to ensure that she’d stay by me and not run off toward the road. She can do it for short periods during off-the-farm walks, but I’d never trust it off leash around distractions. But still, damn she looks good trotting enthusiastically, head and tail up as go to the barn twice a day to feed the sheep.

However, here’s what I haven’t done: taught her to sit, down and stay. REALLY? If you’re surprised, (shocked?) you’re not as surprised as I am. If she was a BC or a Great Pyr, (or a Lab or an Aussie or a Wheaton or a…. fill in the blank) I guarantee you we’d have started that on day one. It’s true that I have worked on sit a bit, and she is gradually getting the idea (although much slower than any other dog I’ve had.. she is 7 year old mill dog after all), but the fact is there just seem to be more important issues. And that is, no doubt, in part because of her size. She’s tiny, really truly small, and there’s just no way around the fact that her dancing, leaping and charging around the house just doesn’t feel as problematic as it would with a larger dog. And yet, she clearly needs to work on what I call “emotional control,” so now that she’s settling in, I do indeed think it’s time to start focusing on some cues that require her to inhibit herself a bit.

Here’s the connection between Tootsie and the research: Perhaps smaller dogs are indeed more excitable, and not just perceived as such, because, in part, they are not as often taught behaviors that lead to emotional control. Willie, along with all my BCs, was taught to sit, down and stay early on in their training, all behaviors that teach dogs to inhibit impulsiveness and control their own emotions. Tootsie, if anything, is encouraged to run crazily around the house with her ears flapping because 1) when she came she was a bit shut down, and 2) in all honesty, she’s so damn cute when she does so. Encourage Willie to run around the living crazily? Eeeps, not necessary. More than that, hyping up is the last thing he needs… Willie does best if you spend your energy calming him down, not hyping him up.

And so I’m interested in your experience: If you’ve had both small and medium size or large dogs, do you find that you treat them differently? Expect different things out of them? All this relates nicely to the last post, about how our expectations and unconscious cues effect our dog’s behavior. What is the interaction between our expectations, training and the behavior of small dogs? (I suppose we should define “small.” That’s an interesting question unto itself. How small does a dog have to be for you to call it “small?” I’d say less than 20 pounds? Or so? Tootsie is about 14….).

MEANWHILE, back on the farm. As Facebook readers know, the week had a tough beginning. On Monday evening, just back from Arizona, I found my favorite ewe, Dorothy, down and unable to get up in the mud in front of the barn door. I spent the evening trying to save her, but even with an emergency farm call from the vet it wasn’t possible. She was ancient, 13 years old (the equivalent of being in her 90s if she was human), frail and thin, and probably had pneumonia. Sheep with pneumonia often show no signs of it at all, no coughing or respiratory distress, and Jim said Dorothy was eating at the feeder Monday morning. She must have gone down very fast. I’m just thankful she didn’t suffer any longer than she did. She was a long legged, elegant and gentle ewe who produced 22 beautiful lambs for me, and I will miss her.

Here she is last spring, she’s the grey beauty on the right, with her 2 lambs to the right of her. Rosebud is to her left, with her triplets. I’ve kept the 2 pintos from Rosebud (or piebald ones) and they look like they will have their own lambs this year.

And here’s part of the flock now, looking at Willie on the other side of the fence in the background. That’s Rosebud closest to Willie in the back, with her lambs Oreo and Butterfinger to her right (one feeding, one also looking at Willie.) Spot, Rosebud’s daughter from 4 years ago, is the tan, wooly sheep in the back. You can see 9 year old Barbie’s wool while she chows down at the feeder, and just barely make out the muzzle of Lady Godiva on the far left. Without Dorothy it’s the smallest flock I’ve had in years, just six ewes, with King Charles the ram living at his co-owner’s farm. Lambing is set to begin at the end of March, lambing prep will be job one at the farm when I get back from the Tucson Book Festival on Monday. If you’re coming this weekend, please come up and say hi. (And notice the hill behind the pen in the photo? Anyone want some firewood? Geesh, we’ve had a ton of downed trees in the last year; one actually landed on the fence, but is only partially cleared. The chain saw will be a humming soon.)

Comments

I also think size REALLY matters. When they come to me, little dogs have a History of biting. Three, five, eight bites… the owners call it a nuisance, but they aren’t really worried. Can’t say the same about big dogs. But its true that small dogs are easier to live with, even if they have problems. Chewable things get onto tables, if the dog its out of control you can easily pick it up and get it to other room… It’s another dimension. When my little dog was little (schnauzer mini mix), I used to play ball inside the house, showed her how to dance in two legs, to ask for pets standing up, she was allowed in the sofa and up in the bed. When the lab came… we had to hide the balls, no standing up allowed, no paws on furniture… and on and on. It’s just not the same…

My 25 lb dachshund-mix is not anxious or fearful or any of those characteristics you think of for little dogs, but he is _stubborn_ and smart (?!) enough to stop doing anything I try to teach him as soon as I take treats out of the equation. Or in certain situations he will completely misbehave in a way that makes me think he knows I will get frustrated enough to break out the treats to get him to behave.

I took him to 2 or 3 rounds of obedience, and taught him sit and down and leave it etc, but I could never, ever get him to stay, and he will only do the other things some of the time. He just doesn’t see the point, as far as I can tell. He will come, in from the yard anyway, but I don’t trust him off leash anywhere except when we are hiking (where he is a perfect angel – guess he sees the point of the trail?). It can get pretty frustrating at times – I _want_ him to be a very well-behaved dog, but I have no idea how to get there, since the methods I have tried don’t seem to work with him. Some of the problem is me, I have no doubt, but some of it is indeed that as a relatively small dog, he is more easily controlled than a 100 pound lab would be.

This is not to say he is a bad dog, quite the opposite in most ways – he’s just stubborn and frustrating at times.

Last year, out of curiousity, I went back through my dog daycare applications from the last 10 years, looking at the training info. I ask when/where they attended classes on my application as part of background info. About 80% of the med-large breed room dogs attended at least puppy classes. The small breed room applications were the exact opposite, with only about 20% of them ever attending a puppy class. Interesting! Maybe we need to offer small breed only puppy class…

Absolutely I agree. Having always had mainly large dogs (Golden Ret., Rottweiler, and many years of Vizslas) I now have a short legged hound called a Basset Fauve de Bretagne. In comparison to our other big breeds, he has been trained very little. (mainly his name, coming when called – well SOMETIMES- hes a hound after all) and some basic stay as in show ring stance, and housetraining. He is the first dog whos never learned sit, down, stay or heel. My kids tease me when they visit, about how “unruly” he is. But its partly that they just they are used to their Mom training all the other family dogs to a high level, some even doing competition obedience and agility. So for me, its a matter of his size (less than 30lbs) and it just doesnt seem that necessary to train him as much. Add to that, I’m growing older, and maybe lazier??? with my age! LOL My expectations of him are certainly less than for my larger breeds of the past years.

And so sorry to hear the end result of you ewe Dorothy, Patricia. I’m sure you cared deeply for her, just by how you spoke of her. She must have been special.

I have a 10 pound papillon, and a 30 pound bc. My papillon is not as well behaved as my bc. My papillon jumps up crazily on people and barks at the door, and he’s allowed on the bed. (bc is too, only if given permission) I think we perceive my papillon as being able to get away with more because it’s ‘cute’, and because it’s not a nuisance. If my bc did that, I don’t think anybody would be as thrilled.

My papillon was severely aggressive for a long time, couldn’t pick him up without at least a dozen holes in your hands, as he learned he could get away with it. The first times he growled without even biting, he was set down because nobody wanted to hurt him because he’s ‘cute’. That taught him that he had ‘power in the bite’. That would never happen with a bigger dog. I just wish other people didn’t still think his bad behavior was ‘cute’, it would make my life tons easier!

I also got my bc 8 years after my papillon, and have learned A LOT about raising dogs in those 8 years. I’m not sure if it’s more perception or my own growth and knowledge.

As a trainer, I have thought for years that (many, though not all) small dogs “get away” with questionable behavior from puppyhood on – behavior that would get addressed very quickly in a larger dog but is condoned and sometimes encouraged in toys. What owner would allow behavior in a PitBull or Mastiff, say, that is regularly tolerated in your average Chihuahua or ShiTzu? Not many, I think. In addition, many small dogs are regulary sequestered in the home, preventing them from developing any social “muscle”. They don’t meet strange people, and don’t know how to act around other dogs – particularly large dogs. I volunteer at McDowell County Animal Outreach, and I am always careful with the new arrivals, but I am REALLY careful with the lapdogs, so many of which are ready to snap in defensive fear.

As a young girl, I had a Toy Poodle who followed me around off leash everywhere: in the woods, playing with friends, hanging around the neighborhood, even balancing around the edge of a swimming pool (by her choice). I desperately wanted a BIG DOG, but 9lb. Misty was what I had, and I treated her as though she were 90lbs.- so that is how she behaved. She liked everybody and didn’t take crap from the neighborhood dogs. Contrast that with my grandmother’s Toy Poodle, Baby, who was sadly the most sterotypically untrained nasty snappy yappy insecure thing you ever could have the misfortune to run across. Now, I own Akitas. I have put much, much more emphasis on leash skills with my present companions. Little dog pulls on the leash, no big deal. Big dog pulls on a leash, omg. Small or big, getting on the furniture is fine. Small or big, please don’t jump unless I ask. I would play rowdy games in the house with the little dog – not so much with 4 big dogs. More play outside. The Poodle I trusted off leash anywhere. The Akitas are more independant-minded, so I don’t trust them unless we are off in a secluded area in the woods (which I think they prefer anyway).

i think there is a HUGE difference in how they are treated…I see SO many dog owners put up with stuff I would (and they would) NEVER tolerate from my pack (3 60-80 lb dogs). It is most glaringly obvious at the Boston Terrier playgroup I take my parents to with their pack.

I definitely think size matters…at least in how people train their dogs. When I first got my golden retriever from a rescue, she was a 65 pound fireball with almost no emotional control and was severely reactive. And she LOVED to jump on people. Not just jump up, but jump all over them. So we began training heavily with sits, downs, wait/stay, etc and learning to greet people “properly” (at least in the person’s eyes). Several of my neighbors complained about the jumping at the beginning of this training process. Now, to give perspective, the next largest dog in my neighborhood is 30 pounds, with the majority of dogs weighing between 6 and 22 pounds, and interestingly, every single one of those dogs jumps up, runs around crazily, etc. And only one of those dogs was trained to sit reliably. The rest of them have little to no training at all.

I think the reality is that if a large dog “acts up” or does something a person doesn’t like, the impact of that behavior tends to be proportionally large, whereas if a smaller dog exhibits a similar behavior, it doesn’t bother people as much. After all, there is a significant difference between the dog who jumps up and licks you on the mouth to the dog who jumps up and can only reach your knee. It also seems as if people are less tolerant of perceived aggression in a large dog, and are much more likely to address it as a big problem.

I do think that this bias is something we should be aware of, and that training any dog, regardless of size, is an important thing to do.

p.s. I’m sorry to hear about Dorothy, but it sounds like she lived a long, wonderful life!

Huh, you raise a good point. I never really thought about it until now. I myself, no. I treat small dogs same as big dogs. Maybe because when I was a child, I had a small dog and I was entirely responsible for her training. Playing with her and everything. So when your 7 a small dog is kind of like a big dog to an adult. However my sisters dogs though the years and stuff, I don’t think I ever treated them different.

However, now that you mention it. My youngest lab is 7 and a half months and we are getting ready to do the Canine Good Citizen. I honestly cant remember ever seeing a dog below 40 lbs do that. Which now that I think about it, why is that? I mean they are perfectly capable of being a good citizen and there is nothing size related to that. Something everyone can do, it is a great confidence builder and a lot of fun. I am trying to think even if I ever seen a small dog in obedience training ever and none ever come to mind.

I think size only matters if the humans involved have a different standard of behavior based on size. I know this does exist, in my training business I teach a class designed just for small dogs, called Little Lions and a more advanced version called Lap Sharks. I often see adult small dogs that do not have even the most basic behaviors, those that most dog owners do well with on their own like sit, instilled. I see excitable dogs without any impulse control, I see what I call “carried dog syndrome” or snappy defensive behavior that ends when dogs are not picked up can carried constantly like baby dolls, and other behaviors that would rarely be tolerated in a 90 pound dog. On the plus side we teach the toy dogs the same skill set as the larger dogs and once we get the owners on board with us the small dogs are so easy to train. Once the training protocols are in place the little dogs excel, they are smart (!), willing, and genuine workers when motivated effectively. This class is fun!!!! My small dog owners come back for more advanced training because they enjoy so much having a relationship with their dog, instead of just carrying a dog around. For myself I have had both large dogs and small dogs and I know how easy it is to focus on different behaviors based on the reality of living with dogs of such different sizes. There is something unimaginable about having a 90 GSD without a great down stay, drop on cue, and recall but I can imagine my PW Corgi doing none of those things (on cue).

I get very annoyed with owners that baby little dogs, so for me it was important to treat our 14 pound Sumo-boy as the dog he is and as one equal of now three cohabiting furry friends. Sumo surprised me when he got off my lead in pursuit of a bunny (downtown) but stopped almost mid-air when I called him back to me. This after only a few months when I still had a bunch of behavioral problems to deal with such as jumping up on the table, or scratching the screen door to get my attention. Sumo’s self-confidence and self-reliance, his utter maleness keeps on impressing me. He dares to move forward where my more cautious, bigger Isabella-girl will halt.

Sumo (Yorkie/Poodle/Maltese) has trouble understanding things that Isabella (maybe a Wheaton/Poodle and something mix from the shelter) gets with ease. For example I would throw them a toy and offer a treat when they would bring it back to me, all the way in to my hand. Well, Sumo took great pleasure in the pursuit of the toy, but bringing it back -nah. Isabella resorted to dragging Sumo back with the toy so as to garner her treat! She is a smart girl, but Sumo has a kind of street smarts, a kind of knowing how to use his size to evade others, in particular Isabella, by ducking under low and using agile flips in the air to change direction. He can also act it up and tease and did so for the first time when he garnered the ball a bunch of boys had played with. He was so proud of himself, tail up, strutting and evading them, too cute.

The time my bigger girl tore the snap of her lead in her excitement (and proceeded to run in circles around the public park, overjoyed to be free at last) I was surprised to find out that Sumo could heel perfectly off lead, downtown. Sumo followed me home and did exactly as asked.

My little guy to my great dismay did snap at a huge Deer Hound last year, that once again lumbered over him, as he had done many times before as a huge puppy at the dog park despite Sumo’s attempts of ignoring and avoiding him, so this last time Sumo told him off and caught his tongue. I like to believe it was a mistake, but I am not one hundred percent sure.

Sumo will alert when he sees other dogs on our walks and will often put those dogs on notice. He can remember for a little while to hold off the barking, but keeps forgetting himself again and again. This makes encounters with other dogs a lot more challenging, Now 6 1/2 years old, I have not been able to correct this behavior to all our satisfaction.

Sumo joined us via my neighbor who one day handed him over “you can have him.” So he had 1 1/2 years of training prior, but he did not know what was meant with stay, a cue I had thought my bigger girl early on. Isabella tried to teach Sumo by enthusiastically coming to his side and demonstrating what I requested. I really cherish that all three furry ones, that includes our Pretty Kitty, are very responsive and well socialized.

I had a small sheltie mix. After seeing the small dogs in the vet practice I worked at, I made a special effort to treat him like a large dog. (We used to joke about small dogs whose feet never touched the ground.) In addition, my husband is very sound and motion sensitive, and would get agitated at shrill barking and spinning, frantic behavior. So, self-control was the mantra.

I see a difference in the way my obedience students interact with their small dogs, as well. There seems to be several things going on: some people don’t seem to see their small dogs as “dogs”, but rather children (or accessories); small dogs are a challenge to interact with if you are teaching heeling and downs (you have to bend wa-ay over, or strain those tired knees!); small dogs come off as cute for much longer than large puppies, so they get away with mischievous behavior for far longer. The small dogs are not as scary, either, so there seems to be the perception that they don’t need to be trained as much.

I also wonder if there are some breed predispositions that contribute to perceptions. For instance, many of the larger breeds were developed to work and be biddable, while a lot of the smaller breeds are terriers or other less biddable dogs.

I have made this observation before – that little dogs seem to have less requirements put to them by their human owners and that more nuisance behavior is tolerated. My in-laws have had labs and Lhasas since I’ve known them – both labs are/were boisterous but are corrected for “over the top” behavior. Both Lhasas are/were MUCH brattier and scolded MUCH less.

I might be a minority, but my medium (50lb) dogs DO get to run around in the house, get up on the furniture, play ball in the house, stand up for petting, etc. I teach commands to end the behavior, so it isn’t a free-for-all but I do get to enjoy seeing my dogs cut loose and be silly in ways that so many little dog owners enjoy. If I had a little dog (husband occasionally says he’d like a Boston or Frenchie), I’d let the little dog do all that too… but it’d be the same rules for all canine members of the household.

Ha. So very true. Lulu and Phoebe are my first small dogs, weighing in at 10 and 16 pounds respectively. They are Bostons and need as much training as possible because, while awfully adorable when you run around doing what we affectionately call the BT500 in the house, it is not a great behavior in someone else’s home. So we started early. The smaller one, 7 years old now, can do a boatload of behaviors (many learned from your books and other classes). She is happiest when “working”. The other is 5 years old and the polar opposite. She loves to work but it must be work that has an end result in something with a ball. Obsessed is an understatement. She needs way more work on calming techniques (like a good long down stay) than any dog I’ve ever had in my life. She literally vibrates and wiggles that back end 24/7. But the offset is that she is small and very very sweet and seems to actually smile (I know the difference) a lot because she loves the entire world, especially if she has a ball in her mouth.

The larger dogs we’ve had in our life had to have manners or it was hard to deal with them because they could do things that these small dogs cannot – like reach counter or table tops, push out doors or knock over people – I agree. They are just not the same. Or conversely, the same only different.

There is also the travel factor. The smaller dogs go with us, even to places like France because they can come with us in the cabin. So they have had to learn travel manners, too. I’d never subject a large dog to cargo. So they’d never get to go far with us. But in the end, big or small, I think all dogs want to feel of value so training small dogs and big dogs – the same only differently – would be in their best interest.

I’m very sorry about Dorothy. She was a beautiful ewe and I followed the action on FB and was sad that she did not make it.

My first dog was a rescued 85lb rottweiler/pitt cross – I was vigilant with the training and because of the set structure and high expectations from me, she was a fabulous dog. At the age of 13 she helped pick out our latest dog (well, puppy), a nova scotia duck toller/chihuahua cross. I have never been a fan of small dogs (especially chihuahua’s) because I saw many of them get away with behaviour that I would never allow from my Roxy girl. After much begging and pleading from my 12 year old daughter (and pleading looks from our old dog Roxy), I decided to enter into the world of small dog ownership – however, I also decided that I would have the same expectations of our little dog as I did from our rottie/pit. Abby is now on her second set of training classes, and will begin agility when she is 12 months old. She is fantastic off leash and only barks when appropriate (letting us know that someone is at the door) – we definitley still need to work on stopping her from jumping up on visitors and jumping into peoples laps without being invited. But I do continue to work on her training on a daily basis.

I have two tiny dogs – a papillon and a toy poodle. Sophy the papillon is one of those innately GOOD dogs – not necessarily totally obedient, but with a really solid temperament, and outstanding social skills around dogs and people – I know her judgement around dogs especially is far better than mine. My sister took one look at her when she was a pup, and said she should be called Susan, as she was so obviously the sensible, grown up one of the family! There was a point when she was around 5 months when I realised life had become rather serious – lots of puppy classes, lots of training, lots of impulse control, but perhaps not quite enough sheer fun, and made sure I got down on the floor and played silly games with her several times a day.

Poppy the toy poodle is a completely different character. She was rather late coming from the breeder, and innately soft and a little shy. I worked very hard at socialising her, and it has paid off, but because she was a nervous pup I was probably less insistent on good behaviour than I was with Sophy. Fortunately she is a poodle – she learns very, very fast – and we are now working on more advanced impulse control.

I do think that specific guidance on socialising very small pups – and classes where they were segregated from very large, bouncy ones – would be enormously helpful. Socialising small pups is difficult – there is a very narrow path to walk trying to ensure that your 2 – 3 pound puppy has happy, positive, SAFE experiences with dogs and children and people of all shapes and sizes. I have spoken to innumerable people for whom one bad experience has left both them and, they claim, their dog permanently traumatised and unable to risk encounters with larger dogs. I have given up on several classes after my small pups were knocked off their feet or run over by half grown labs or other larger breeds, while clueless owners tried to grab the leash and giggled. I was lucky enough to find a near perfect class, not too far away, but it was the third or fourth I investigated. And even there Sophy got clobbered by a run away lurcher.

Perhaps this could be your next book, Trish – how to raise the perfect small dog! And as an aside, anyone who sets up socialisation classes for puppies with a group of kind, thoroughly well socialised adult dogs may not make a fortune, but will earn the undying gratitude of dog owners (especially small dog owners) everywhere!

In my experience “most” owners of small dogs allow them to get away with bad behavior that a person would never tolerate in a 60 or 80 lb dog. I routinely see small dogs who are allowed to run up barking hysterically at any person, bicycle, or other dog in the streets in front of their houses. Cute? Hardly… imagine that same behavior coming from a German Shepherd. I also know more people who’ve been bitten (sometimes quite severely) by dogs under 25 lbs than larger dogs. Part of the reason I have always owned medium-large sized dogs is that I have a strong dislike of small dogs, which I think comes from the fact that most of the small dogs I’ve met are poorly socialized, nervous, yappy, and aggressive.

I foster & work largely with Jack Russel terriers, but we own a Lab and a Staffordshire terrier of our own as well. And, yes, of course, one sets higher standards for the larger dogs, simply because they take up more physical space inside. ALL our dogs (and foster dogs) are taught to sit, to wait, and to come when called, but only the Lab has been taught stay and down as well. We are definitely stricter about the jumping business with the large (muddy) dogs, although we make an effort to teach the Jacks (ha ha) to not jump up excessively. What I noticed this year though is that I have different standards for different size Jacks. I expect the larger Jacks to more or less heel on leash, but we have a six pounder who bounces around on the end of the leash like a demented butterfly and I have made no effort to correct that. I guess because I can always simply scoop her up if she is too all over the place. And she looks so damn cute !!! I have not found that small dogs bite more readily than large dogs. I think it is easier to intimidate or frighten a small dog into biting mode, and, since I work largely with adult dogs who have often been royally messed up by previous owners, I see a lot of defensive-aggressive behaviour. Jacks are not exactly lap dogs however, so it may be true that many so-called lap dogs have been raised with few parameters because they were not considered big enough to hurt anyone and have thus learned that their teeth are a useful tool for getting what they need: space usually.

This post made me chuckle because it is so true!! I rescued a BC and a small terrier at the same time from the rescue centre. I have spent a lot of time training my BC, taking him to classes, doing agility and flyball but the terrier didn’t even know what “down” means because I thought she is not very clever and will be too much trouble to teach such things to (I know, that is ridiculous!!). Then one night my husband, who is not a doggy person and doesn’t get very involved w the dogs, thought her the down command. He had not realised I never thought this command to her and just kept persisting. This REALLY opened my eyes!! How stupid had I been!! I now spend time training them both and she is actually easier to train than my BC. She is happy to try tricks and offers behaviours more freely then my “but-your-hand-is-one-millimetre-more-to-the-right-I-don’t -know-what -you-mean Border Collie. (I’m sure anyone with a BC knows what I mean!!! ;D ) She is also still “allowed” to bark in the garden, he is not. “she is just a terrier” She also gets growly if other dogs are in her personal space but I just say “don’t worry she won’t do anything”. The BC does this occasionally too, particularly if dogs are too bouncy he gets overstimulated and gets stressed, and I’ve spent countless hours and days training him out of this. When a runner or bike comes, he needs to come to heel, she is allowed to do whatever she wants. (This is also due to his tendencies to do BC charges when objects move fast past him)

But yes, I’ve never really thought about it but Patricia this survey is so accurately and I’m certainly a living proof of it ;D

I agree that we both perceive and treat the small dogs differently. I train a lot of obedience behaviors, mostly because I enjoy it, as does my 25 lb dog. But I also encourage her to jump up on me, run around like a maniac, and put her paws up on my leg so I can pet her – it’s easier than bending down LOL. It also depends on the dog’s energy for me – my Sheltie mix is very delicate in her movements (well, most of the time) so her jumping up isn’t as annoying as it would be coming from, say, a JRT or similar energy level dog. On the large dog side of the scale, I would be much more tolerant of a Saluki jumping up on me than a Labrador! The Saluki wouldn’t knock me over. 🙂

Love this post. I adopted a Chihuahua Mix puppy that I was fostering, Sue Sternberg had rescued the little Momma dog from a nearby shelter and Momma dog had 4 pups in my house. . I was hell bent on NOT keeping a puppy, I have 2 JRTs. Had 2 BC before that. It was challenging to find the pups suitable homes (I was picky) and the longer the last one stayed, I realized he was perfect. He’s 7lbs now, full grown. Hikes every day for at least an hour, is around big dogs constantly ( I am a trainer and pet sitter). Yes, it’s TOTALLY DIFFERENT! So much easier. The Mother dog is a very calm dog and Romeo had the luxury of being raised in a house full of different dogs every week. So all of that helped a lot. His energy is very calm and so far all dogs love him. I have been slow in teaching him basics also, but he is sitting, down and standing, twirling, spinning. Working on a high five. He’s been so easy to integrate into my house, not pushy at all (like my old JRT!). Sleeps in a kids tent! I work around teenage dogs constantly and I have to say, this Chihuahua mix is soooooooo much easier than the big dogs. When he takes a sock into the living room, it’s cute. I never worry about destruction. The house training last Fall brought me to tears though. I had 2 of the puppies here and it was brutal. The weather was bad and they did not want to go outside. I thought we would never get it done. 2 of the pups who were adopted early on, have never got the house training totally. People look the other way with little dogs. I have a dog door, and that helped a lot. Also the other dogs here, helped. Patricia, thanks for all you do.

I am a dog trainer, and I would say that little dogs often are more excitable, and it is partly because their unacceptable behaviors (jumping on people, nipping, barking, running around the house) are at worst seen as more of a nuisance than a danger, but often times people think it is cute. I have been bitten (and/or the dogs have attempted to bite me) by more Maltese than any other breed. That being said, I’ve only been bitten about 6 or 7 times in 5 years, none of them serious bites. I have a 30 pound Corgi mix (9 and 1/2 years old) and a 20 pound Corgi mix (2 and 1/2 years old). I have focused more on obedience with my little one than with my bigger one b/c I didn’t want a “nuisance.” That said, they are both well-trainer, but the bigger dog is mostly motivated by getting to smell new things (hard to do in a training setting – I honestly don’t remember how I managed to teach him Heel, which of course is not as good as my food hound’s Heel). Lastly, I should mention that I work with more small-medium sized dogs in my training b/c a lot of people that have bigger dogs think you need choke chains and shock collars to train them, and/or that they can train them themselves b/c they “have always had dogs” BUT more medium-large dogs go all the way through to Advanced (CGC class).

I have been scolded by owners of small dogs for telling the dog sternly “off” for jumping on me. I have never been scolded by the owner of a medium or large size dog for using a stern “off.” There’s definitely a double standard.

One day at the dog park a very nasty Yorkie was charging and snapping at my 90lb Ranger. Yorkie’s owner and friend thought it was very funny. I thought it was rude and inappropriate. Strangely enough when I verbally gave Ranger permission to deal with the matter however he wanted they snatched up the Yorkie giving me dirty looks and left the park.

The trainer I worked with for years constantly told owners of small dogs “would you be smiling if an intact male Rotweiler were doing that?” Most of them agreed they would not, but few made much effort to modify their dogs’ behaviors–always assuming, I suppose, that they could physically remove their dogs from trouble, & there is a difference in how much damage the dog can do-I got my worst injury as a groomer from a Shih Tzu, but a Rottie with that evil a temperment could have killed me. Significantly, though, I’ve never met a big dog that psycho–who would risk it?

I agree that small dogs are often allowed to get away with stuff that large dogs are not, and are frequently not very well trained.

However, when I was a young teen, I had my very first dog that was “my” dog. My parents took care of vet care and the like, but I did all the training. She was so well trained that she would wait downstairs while I hid stuff upstairs, then go find it and bring it down. I could leave people food (steak, etc) on the floor in front of her, tell her “leave it” and actually LEAVE THE HOUSE (not the room; go outside, close the door, take a stroll up the block and back) and she would not touch it. I’d come back to a trembling dog with the food still there. (I did this extreme training because there was a toddler in the house, the child of my not-dog-loving sister, and she was infinitely annoyed with the dog stealing Cheerios off the baby’s walker tray).

She knew sit, stay, down, paw, speak, heel, jump through a hoop, beg, and spin. And she was still nippy, still a bit neurotic.

My own theory is that nippy, neurotic dogs stay in the gene pool of toy breeds and are more likely to be culled from the gene pool of large and medium breeds. This little dog (mom was a cock-a-poo, dad was “unknown”) was absolutely brilliant, smart as a whip, but her personality was a bit unpredictable. I still have some scars on my hands to prove it.

Interesting findings! I tend to think size matters insofar as humans think it matters and what the perceptions of toy dogs are… silly little frou-frou yappers, ‘toys’, amusing but more for looks and cute factor than intelligence. The size to a degree lets them get away with it – there was a toy poodle owned by a family at my child’s school who has repeatedly snapped with contact (but no skin broken) during pick-up. Poor dog is anxious as all get out and mobbed by children poking her so she jumps on her owner and when that fails she nips sometimes 2-3 times. “Oh it’s okay, she won’t really do anything.” Anyone imagine the same would be accepted with a larger dog?

I grew up with Aussies, ACD/Aussies, BC/Aussies, Setters and Labs and as kids our mum would shove boxes of cherios and a dog lead in our hands with orders to get outside for the afternoon, play and go amuse ourselves by teaching tricks. I suspect this was largely a ploy to get a herd of hyper children and our respective dogs out from under foot than anything but it resulted in us all learning to teach dogs and the dogs learning all their obedience and any trick we could think of, as well as home-made obstacle courses etc. My heart remains with working dogs (current: 3 Aussies, a working BC and a Kelpie/JRT) however when I move out for college I got an IG as I could only have a small dog in my apartment. Not knowing any different I raised him the same way we raised our working dogs and he was always dubbed a “BC in an IG jacket”. We did agility, obedience, all manner of tricks, he tugged and fetched like a fiend, he trotted alongside my bike whenever I went biking, boating etc. He recalled off rabbits in the woods, turning on a dime. He remains in the top 3 best dogs to train I’ve ever worked with, tying with my 3 yo BC for sheer shaping power and behavioural precision. I later found out most people considered Italian Greyhounds to be doing rather well if they knew their names and not to piddle on the carpet. X_X I told them we just never told him he was a toy dog so he never knew he wasn’t supposed to be able to do those things. I met an absurd amount of folks who would make comments along the lines of, “You know, I’ve never liked little dogs but I like him.” I tend to think it’s because I never knew people thought of toy dogs differently and so never treated him different or held different expectations of what was ‘normal’ acceptable behaviour.

I read your blog through the RSS feed on LiveJournal, and I found this entry really provocative.

I definitely agree with the study finding how smaller dogs are perceived. I’ve always kept smaller to medium sized dogs (around 20 lbs, mostly terriers) and have always found it amazing how many dogs in the same size/weight range as mine are just not well behaved. Charging, jumping, barking, various aggressive behaviors, etc. It does seem as though larger or more boisterous dogs are trained in obedience and house manors out of necessity, and because smaller dogs can get by without being too destructive while exhibiting the same behaviors, they do not warrant the same time investment for training.

Seeing well trained and obedient dogs (usually larger breeds) always seemed to be the norm for me, so when I was old enough to participate in the training of our dogs when I was younger, it was only natural for me to want them to have good behavior as well, even though they were smaller. It wasn’t until later that I because aware of the training discrepancy based on size. Right now I have a 4 y/o Sheltie who is very well trained, but has become shy around other dogs due to the fact that most dogs his size that approach him do not know how to greet and lunge, jump on him, and have no problems chasing him even when he gives off very clear “do not want” posture and behavior. My dog has no issues with dogs larger then him (he’s only 19lbs) but will actively shy away from anything his size or smaller. I think that says a lot about the general behavior we encounter. Within the past week we’ve brought home our second Sheltie who is 10 weeks only, and although we estimate he’s going to be a petite dog, he is working on sit and recall along with potty training already, but if he were a 3lb. teacup chi, it would be the same way.

Little dogs can do everything that big dogs can, I just wish that more people would take the time to offer the same level of training to them. It really can be a rewarding experience, and not only the owner and dog benefit – those you come in contact with do too!

I also agree completely that how we perceive the dog changes our expectations of them. I have two that are only 5 pounds different in weight and maybe an inch different in height. But one is boss and has a strong personality and the other is a sweet, submissive, cuddler. And I’ll bet everyone here can easily guess which is better trained!

Jack (the bossy one) could stay the length of a ball field by the time he was 18 months old. He’ll back up on command from across the room. Maddie has been with me for two-and-a-half years and “stay” is a parlor trick she does when I’m standing three feet away from her (at most). She knows the basics; she’ll sit and come when called and heels like a dream. But the rest? I didn’t really feel I needed it. She’s so sweet, you can do anything with her, and if I do find her in a difficult situation I can just pick her up and haul her off and she gives sad ears and licks my face.

Jack will take a mile if you give him an inch and tends to think his own opinions are at least as valid as your own. And while he’s very tolerant of most things, he’s not really a dog I’d want to pick up and move out of a situation he wanted to be in. So he’s learned lots of stuff and I can control him quite well from a distance with just my voice.

I have seen people tolerate food guarding, extreme alpha behaviors, lunging and growling at small children in Chihuahuas and shrug it off. I know if it was a Pit Bull type dog, the public would have been outraged. Bad behavior is bad behavior, no matter how large or small the dog. ( or how “cute”or how “ugly”)

I also didn’t like small dogs – when I got my girls I got a lab cross (turned out to be kelpie cross) and a standard Fox Terrier (about 35lb). However no one told the Fox Terrier she was supposed to be a medium sized dog – she grew to a full size of 7lb! Before that, however, she had been trained and socialised much like the kelpie x. So I ended up with a confident, happy small dog who loved children. While she didn’t need as much training as the kelpie x to keep her happy, she mastered the basics. And when my kelpie cross broke her leg, then developed severe arthritis, the little dog became my obedience competition dog. She never did as well as the kelpie x, but gained her first title. She also enjoyed agility until she developed back problems.

However she now has small dog aggression, and bites large dogs if they come into her space. Why? A rotty picked her up in its mouth and threw her 6ft. 10 years after the event, and after much training she no longer rushes any rotty she sees (the fact that they now have tails in Australia helps enormously), but she has changed from a dog happy to meet new dogs to one who would prefer to have nothing to do with them.

She has, however, changed my mind about small dogs, I can no longer imagine life without a dog able to be picked up and cuddled – they don’t have to behave differently to big dogs, you just have to train them the same.

I have a 4-pound chihuahua. He loves to clicker train. I put him on a table top so that he does leave until I am ready to stop :0). Really, although Teddy is bright and is very engaged when we are clickering, he has many behaviors that I would not tolerate in a bigger dog. He came to us at 8 weeks, less than 1 lb. The snow was 2 feet deep. We paper trained him. Alas, for him that often means standing on the paper and aiming for the floor ‘-(.

Many chi owners tell me that the independence is a breed trait. My BC, 2 whippets and JRT all do agility. But Teddy’s independence totally defeated me.

Worse, I find that all the bigger dogs here treat him differently. They, too, tolerate a range of bossy, obnoxious, and resource stealing/guarding behaviors that they do not allow dogs their own size. Simply put, they warn, he persists, they warn, he persists, they warn, and finally, since they don’t want to bite him, they walk away.

Quite often I notice that people don’t relly pick up on what the little dogs are “saying”. It’s a bit too easy to just drag the dog by the leash or pick him up, and it doesn’t really hurt that much if he bites so why bother to pay attention to subtle signs like looks, body posture or growls… Plus, his face is smaller and further away, thus harder for the human to pay attention to. Also, small dogs get hoisted up in the air and/or held in the arms or on the lap much more often than bigger dogs – not necessarily something they enjoy, and either way it definitely sets aside their capability to express themselves by using body language, distance cues et cetera. All in all I suspect that small dogs sometimes develop “super-sized language” because their attempts to communicate with subtle signals fail.

Oh boy. Guilty as charged. I rescue/rehome collies (the ones without the border!) and agreed to foster an 8 lb long haired chi/pom mix breeding stock female when a nearby puppy mill was shut down. It will be an easy foster, as I don’t like small dogs, I airily informed DH. It took me 3 days and a screwdriver to get her out of the carrier. She was 7 years old, had never been out of doors, probably was never out of her crate until she came to us. Fast forward – it’s 3 years later, she’s not going anywhere, she’s allowed in bed, on furniture, goes to the office with me, and my poor collies sit and wonder why that little brat is so special. The cuteness is sometimes too much to take, it’s hard to correct her without laughing. I have taught her to heel and stay, and she is just a wonderful dog, doesn’t have a lot of the obnoxious “little dog” habits that I have observed in a lot of my friends’ dogs — probably because the first 7 years of her life were not so hot. All that aside, she does get away with things that I would never tolerate my collies doing!

In classes in recent years I have had more and more small breed dogs, but as others have commented, the great, great majority are medium large dogs. In puppy kindergarten oddly enough, I’ve noticed that the tiny ones and the giants seem to have the most anxious puppy parents who worry about one time experiences that will affect them for a lifetime, hmm. And as the body language communication may even be more pertinent if someone always carts you around, maybe they are right. I don’t know what the excuse would be for the giants…except maybe that joint issues are fairly common and they’re often so clumsy as pups.

I think the greater issue in perception differences is the adoption blindness; small dogs usually will be adopted in our shelter even if they nip (another name for bite)/or threaten, are unruly, are not house-trained. I tend to spend very little time with them and instead put my training efforts into the medium large sized rowdy/active dogs because they aren’t adopted if they do those things and worse if they threaten they may not get the chance to be adopted.

I was doing some dog socialization at a local vet clinic and one of the people there said maybe I could help them, they had a toy dog who was biting grandchildren, but he didn’t really break skin much…and had been doing this for almost 5 years. Wow…growling, biting…but he’s really a nice dog. She wasn’t really sure that she needed to do any training…

Several years ago, in one of my classes, we were starting to train ‘down’ for a treat and a gentleman was having no luck with his Lasa so I went over to show him the placement of the lure and the little dude went for my hand. At which time I took hold of his collar with my other hand and said Ow. The man wanted to know why I had his dog by the collar, I said” he bit me”, he said “no he didn’t.” I continued to hold his dog and showed him where he dinged me. Then I offered the dog the treat, as he had stopped trying to get me and we made wary friends. I relate this story because I think that fairly often people just don’t see what their dogs, esp. little ones are doing.

As a child, I sat down on the front porch steps of a neighbor and reached out very politely to their small mix that had followed me, who snapped at my hand which hurt and then she laid down near me. I left, told my grandfather who was talking to the family and they said “oh no, she didn’t do that.” That’s a weird thing isn’t it? They didn’t see and yet they called me a liar, even though I wasn’t doing anything but stating a fact because I had been surprised and mildly hurt.

More often than is good, when I go to do house calls for training the kids will tell me a much more worrisome story than the parents about the things the dog does. I tend to believe the kids.

But, a large dog going over a snapping at a quiet child’s hand? Then everyone gets excited, anxious, afraid…small dog –it didn’t happen, its nothing, you quit bothering that little dog.

I’m thinking that the larger breeds should get more chances, more forgiveness, more oh you’re so cute and funny and the little ones get a bit more accountability, more I see what you’re doing and you need to do things differently. And the kids…well little dogs are too often not good with kids and its really not always the kid’s fault.

So much here! First, oh yes yes, Jeanine, if people don’t see their dogs do something they so often refuse to believe it happened. I have to say though that I saw that in any size dog: So often, until he (or she) actually saw the dog go after the child/neighbor/spouse/other dog, they denied that it had happened to the other member of the couple. That was even when there was visible evidence of a bite. But once the doubter saw it with their own eyes, they had a very different reaction. I think that speaks to how profoundly visual we are as a species.

The two biggest problems I’ve seen with little dogs are on both ends of the leash, so to speak. 1) The rude, semi-hysterical or unruly dogs that many people have mentioned who would never get away with being so inappropriate if they were larger and 2) The legions of people who see little dogs and before the owner can stop them, no matter how hard they try, swoop in and pick them up and terrify them. A good friend of mine had a sound little puppy who went from super friendly to fearful because of it. (He’s fine now, but my friend got pretty sick of having to protect him.)

And I agree completely that size has nothing to do with intelligence or willingness. A million years ago, long before I got into the field, I too thought I didn’t like little dogs. It didn’t take me long once in the field to realize how smart and funny and fun they can be. And well behaved, if given a chance to learn how. One of my first clients was a Min Poodle and I fell head over heels in love. I’m lucky with Tootsie, she’s such a good little dog, lovely manners with people and other dogs, even after 7 years in a puppy mill. I think she’s perfectly smart (although in a very different way than Willie) and is great fun to train. But I do find it interesting that all our training has been about active behaviors, rather than ones that tend to inhibit. That might be as less about size as it is her need to be ‘brought out’ rather than calmed down, but I do think size has something to do with it. It is impossible for it not to, really. I love it when she jumps up on my leg cuz I can pet her without having to bend down so far. Tiny, light paws on my calf are a far cry from a fast, strong dog doing a fore paw slam into my abdomen! But there’s one thing that size has no effect on: I’m not great around loud, vocal dogs. I’m as sound sensitive as Willie (I have been known to walk out of many a restaurant with my hands on my ears and stress panting.), so Tootsie’s barking has been high on the list. Thank heaven she’s responded so well!

I am so glad you are writing about this. I was going to ask you if there were any special considerations in training small dogs. As of last week I became the owner of a 12 week old rescue yorkie (his pregnant mom was rescued from a puppy mill, and thankfully she had her 5 puppies at the shelter) I happened to be looking for a non shedding dog (for our asthmatic family) when these pups showed up on adopt-a-pet. On a fluke I sent in my application. Upon meeting this litter, my teenage kids, husband and medium sized, 7 year old GREAT dog were all goners. I have never owned or been attracted to a dog this small with his fox like face, and squirrel size body (all of three pounds at 12 weeks). One of the reasons I have not been attracted to this breed is because I have met many yippie, snippy, toy breeds that have not been my cup of tea. I went into agreeing to adopt this guy KNOWING that I was going to train the “brat” right out of him. Easier said than done, this dog likes nothing better than to be held! He actually will climb up my leg like a cat to get in my arms. We both watch the sky for hawks when we are outside. His smallness freaks me out more than I had ever imagined it would. Oh, but is he ever sweet (hormones are probably kicking in tricked into believing I have a human baby in my arms : ) This Yorkie is bright, learning his name, and how to sit in only a few days. I’m determined that this puppy will be well mannered and sweet……secretly fantasising that he will also be an agility genius ; )

Something I have noticed when I walk him or introduce him to folks who have larger dogs is the dismissal I perceive from them “not a REAL dog” or “I’ve always had large dogs” (in a superior voice) I feel that there is judgment (negative) about ME for owning a dog this size that is apparently second best to so many people.

I look forward to reading this thread. I’m so sorry to hear about Dorothy, what a gorgeous name for a beautiful Ewe….

I read this recently and it made me smile….. I believe it applies to Ewe’s as well. “It came to me that every time I lose a dog they take a piece of my heart with them. And every new dog who comes into my life ‘gifts’ me with a piece of their heart. If I live long enough, all of the components of my heart will be dog and I will become as generous and loving as they are”

I used to teach dog obedience classes and I can’t remember an owner of a small dog who actually would expect his/her dog to do all the activities.

And I can only remember a few friends who had calm, obedient small dogs. BUT I think it is more a function of not giving the small dogs the same boundaries as big dogs. Many owners see their small dogs as babies while more of the owners of large dogs see them as companions.

I personally will have to have a small dog to fit my homeless lifestyle when I get a RV. But I worry that it may really be true that I’ll have a yippy, nervous dog that doesn’t relate to me the way my collies and standard poodles did.

But there was one exception my adversion to small dogs. A group of us were canoeing and a Chihuahua kept trying to get in the canoe that had children in it. He swam and ran after us until we finally put him in the canoe. He was a perfect companion and sat on the ledge over the back wheel on the way back to get our cars. We dropped him off and the last we saw of him, he was running after us. I’ve always wished I’d taken that dog home.

I have two small dogs; a Miniature Schnauzer and a Yorkie. I am not an experienced dog trainer. My dogs know “sit” and “come” and that’s it. I have just started reading books about dogs and well trained dogs – “Thunder Dog”, “Last Dog on the Hill”, and “For the Love of a Dog” – and realized I have not done right by my dogs. One of the reasons I did not work hard to train the dogs was because of their size. Because they are small, cute, and full of love, we tolerated a lot of things that we certainly would not have in larger dogs. They are spoiled, lap dogs. They run our household, we don’t. So I’ve started working with them every day. Probably because I don’t know how and partly because the dogs have had 8 years to learn bad habits, I am finding it difficult to get them to respect “Stay” and to even understand “down”. They are both bright and willing dogs. At night when its time to go to bed, I just have to say “In the crate’ and they both bound instantly in and Mattie, the Schnauzer, goes to a perfect “sit” expecting either a yummy treat or just a heartfelt “good dog!”. Sometimes, Patches, the Yorkie” gets stubborn and walks as slowly as he can to the crate but he does obey. In education there is a sometimes general rule of thumb, “it takes a month of constant, consistent, routine to undo a year of neglect or abuse.” In the sense we didn’t teach our dogs to be polite and behaved, I consider it abuse (benevolent abuse, if I can use the oxymoron) to not expect or demand an acceptable range of manners and behavior for 8 years. Now I’m paying for it. I find myself getting more frustrated with the dogs than I ever did with any of my students. That’s strange because my students were often times way more outrageous, and acting out in destructive ways than the dogs ever are. But to get back to the question; since I’ve started looking its clear the dogs read me much more closely and accurately than I do them. I am going to be consistent with what I’m doing. positive reinforcement, and trust there is a time lag also for teaching behavior and manners to dogs like there is for children. I had never heard of dogs teaching other dogs how to behave and act before. It makes sense now. It just never occurred to me. Unfortunately, my dogs are reinforcing each other’s bad behaviors. The only thing they do well together is “sit”. And that is from classic classical conditioning. And it think that’s why “stay” is difficult to get. Learning “sit” they got a treat when they did it right; and they learned very quickly what I wanted and readily complied. If I ask them to “sit” and then to “lie down” they get confused. They expect a treat or reward on “sit”. When they don’t get it they lose interest and go someplace else. When the day comes they “lie down” or “stay” on command I probably will send you an email and probably a picture.

I too have a Cavalier. After owning 6 Golden Retrievers and one Blue Tick mix I find training a small dog quite challenging. I haven’t been a stickler about training him not to jump up on people because compared to a Golden jumping up on one he’s nothing. We do attend training class as I have with all my dogs, and I think he is ready for the CGC. I have tried to require the same behavior that I do of my Golden, but I think the physical act of bending down to reward behavior is more of a challenge, not because I’m unable, but because I’m lazy. I find that I practice less between classes and probably don’t reward often enough. He is smart enough and eager to please, but I’m not consistently practicing behaviors, so it is taking longer to get him to the point of being ready for the CGC. The bending down part may be why people think small dogs are harder to train. I suspect it is laziness rather than the dogs.

So far as the dogs that I encounter go, little dogs seem to have owners that are far more lax or perhaps permissive, which is I think where these other problems come from. I don’t allow my Doberman to flip around and bark and freak out when she sees other dogs; it, in my mind, is unconscionable. However, other dog owners that I encounter don’t have the same feeling regarding their less-than-knee-high fluffy white dogs. Or their poodle mixes. Or their tiny terriers.

These dog owners, that I see, don’t pay much mind to leash manners (because their dogs don’t pull hard enough to matter), recall (Because…well, I don’t know why), and things of that nature. And they look at ME, with my slight-puller, 71 pound dog, as though I’m the menace.

Other big dog owners that I see? Their dogs might pull a bit (As I said, Elka can at times. Their dogs are not allowed to bark and behave erratically without management.

I think, depending on the dog owner, there are just different levels of acceptability and expectation with behavior. I taught Elka “sit” first because that was her most “capture-able” behavior. Her “stay” really kind of sucks, but we’re working on it, and other things. As I said, as a Doberman owner, I feel a certain level of responsibility both to my dog, and to the public as relates to my dog and the breed in general. She’s big, which can be intimidating, and cropped, and so fits with the movie-dog-villain image that a lot of people have. While I don’t feel I’ll be unduly harassed by miscreants while walking her, I also don’t want people to think that she’ll eat their babies, because she won’t. It’s an interesting balance to try to strike.

Oh yes – size does matter! I have never done as little formal training with any of my medium sized dogs than I am doing (or better not doing) with my 8lbs Pom.

Pixie has been here for more than a year now and sit, down, stay are non existent because never practiced. She does a beautiful spin for food (on her own) and is glued to my heels more often than not (on her own) and is great on leash (she just never learned to pull). We did work a lot on housebreaking, some on recall (she is quite deaf – so that didn’t go very far) and now on curbing her “I want that!” barking. Sounds familiar?

Though size is one component of my training laziness, it has to be said that Pixie is also one of the sweetest, most easy going dogs one can imagine. And I suspect that not just my training efforts are directly correlated to the problem potential of my dogs.

I have a 20 pound dog who I have spent a great deal of time working with–behavior, tricks, agility, scent work. It actually never occurred to me to let her ‘get away’ with bad behaviors. Interestingly enough, my husband and I had a very difficult time convincing other people (albeit friends, family or strangers we passed on the street) that it was not okay for our dog (especially as a puppy) to jump on them, take their shoe, etc. Many times we explained that while they might be okay with a puppy jumping on them it wasn’t a behavior we wanted enable and had to insist that they stopped inviting and rewarding such behaviors. Just something to think about the next time you find yourself or a friend letting a little dog ‘run the show’.

Oh, so much here that is familiar! I used to have a mantra – “Would I let you do that if you were a Rottweiler?” when raising my toy pups! And all those people swooping and cooing, and not seeing Poppy’s aversion to being loomed over (am I the only owner of a toy – or any – puppy to need “Please don’t loom over her – give her time to come to you and she will be fine!” on a continuous loop?). I taught all the neighbourhood children to sit down and let the dogs come to them – mucky clothes, but less risk of dropped puppies. And the number of people who have said “I don’t usually like small dogs but …” or “I never realised tiny dogs could be such DOGS!” – usually when Sophy is off quartering the hedges in search of rabbits. I have given up on trying to teach them never to jump up – so many people actively encourage it, and I often do myself when offering a treat. Instead I have a warning that means don’t jump up on this occasion. And I absolutely agree about small dogs using VERY BIG GESTURES to talk to their humans – especially when they have a human as short sighted as I am.

There are two things that are now top of my list to teach tiny pups and dogs. One is that the space between my feet is safety, and they will always be protected there, come what may. Much safer than picking them up, usually – picking a dog up seems to encourage other dogs to grab for it. And the second is the Settle Down cue – first taught so I could get another hour’s sleep after we had been out at the crack of dawn, and now used in all sorts of circumstances!

I think it was Sue Sternberg who said “there are two types of people: those who love little dogs, and those who do not love them…yet. I did not know at the time that I was about to go from the second group to the first. A friend died and I inherited her 7 lb poodle. Because she was a friend of mine I had made sure she trained the dog and he came to me incredibly obedient and with a bunch of cute poodle tricks. He had worked as a therapy dog at hospitals and nursing homes and was very good at it. None of her six children wanted the dog because she had tolerated his daily leg lifting in the house for the entire six years of his life.

Neutering and very strict supervision cured the leg lifting and we had many great years together. He was an ambassador for little dogs. Quiet, friendly, obedient, always at my heel whether off leash, on leash or in the house. I hope of I get another small dog I will work as hard as my friend did to make it a good ambassador too.

I do agree that most people don’t see obedience training as quite so important for the little ones, and it makes me a little sad when I work with problem tinies who are so eager to learn but had never been given the opportunity beforehand.

Right now I am clicker training my thousand-pound horse, and he does not allow me to get sloppy with my training at all. The reason many horse people don’t like using food is that tla thousand pound animal with the enthusiasm and impulse control of a nine month old Labrador is actually a bit scary and dangerous! We have good teachers, and a lot of early (and continuing) work went into emotional control and food delivery mechanics so that the learning can be fun and safe for both of us!

Thanks for a great conversation. I’ve had a mill rescue Papillon (Flynn) for 5 years. He was 4.5 years in the mill and likely born there. Fear aggressive toward people and would likely have been put down but I had 8 years or so of training my Pembroke Welsh Corgis so I was his last hope. He is my first toy dog but a breed I had decided to add to the pack. I have learned so, so much in working with him. He has hugely improved but still has a ways to go. Still doesn’t want to be picked up and goes to a groomer who has helped a great deal. But I am going to take the next steps with him to encourage him even more.

I do not put up with bad behavior and that has made a difference. I treat him like I do the corgis and that has made a huge difference too. I purposely take him many places for socialization even if it makes him a bit anxious. Doesn’t any more. He trained in agility for about 9 months only with the goal of increased self-confidence. Some obedience but I plan to do more. But he doesn’t have a sit or down either and I have allowed that. I plan to work on that too. He has a great heel when he’s confident enough to be up with me and not behind me so I think I could do rally with him. Also hoping to get a CGC and therapy dog certification. He’s good at the nursing home though no laps for Flynn!

And of course corgis are small compared to some of the others folks here mention. It totally irritates me when corgi owners complain about a behavior (and believe me they are a feisty breed!) and then say: but it’s so cute! They will truly run you if you don’t stay in charge.

I have a 6 lb Papillon. We got her at 10 mos, happy and friendly around people, but very shy around strange dogs and nervous in strange places. She had no training (including, despite assurances, potty training) at that point. Partly due to her shyness, and our desire to increase her confidence, we did and continue to do a lot of training with her – beginning with private lessons, later group lessons, and always training at home. The result is a dog with solid obedience skills, a host of fun tricks, and solid enough to be an actively working registered Pet Partner therapy dog and R.E.A.D. dog.

I did find that both small dogs we have had (the Papillon and our previous dog, a Bichon) arrived with us at close to a year of age, un-housetrained and with zero obedience training. But our Bichon earned her CGC and her CD and while the Papillon does not have the temperament that would enjoy competition obedience, the training we do has greatly increased her confidence. Of course, we have made the training fun – so she probably thinks “sit” is as much of a fun trick as “spin”. Regarding impulse control, that is actually something we have specifically worked on during training and during play (thanks to some of the ideas in the “Play Together Stay Together” book).

It is true that there are certain things I have not “un-trained” in my Papillon that I would not tolerate in a large dog. For example, her favorite way to play fetch is to retrieve the ball and then sail up with it onto the cushions of the sofa where I am sitting. I doubt that would work with a big dog! I am also more tolerant of her putting her paws on me to ask to be allowed into a lap, or her dancing on her back legs when someone comes over, as long as she is not hurling herself onto them. But she has a solid stay, down, sit, come, etc, and you can even eat a sandwich with her on your lap and she remains polite.

I also think the public sometimes has a negative perception of small dogs. When doing outreach or promotional events for our therapy work, I often get people who are surprised at how “calm” and “quiet” my dog is. They seem to expect her to be yappy or snappy or out of control.

Our friends joke that the older we get, the smaller our dogs become. Having gone from a 90lb Golden years ago to our current 56 and 32 pounders. Olive, the 32lb terrier mix with the best beard and widow’s peak you’ve ever seen came full of fear and anxiety and skittishness. She is also the first dog I ever took to a dog class, and it was so much fun for both of us. I have spent a lot of time sorting through what she can handle in terms of her fear vs. training and progress on both has been amazing (she actually smiles sometimes now). She is smart, funny, and learns a new trick in less than 3 minutes. She is also extremely sensitive to noise, sudden movements, and new things (not to mention plastic bags and flies and shuffling cards, to name a few), so while I have the same expectations of her as our other (bigger) dogs, I also know it has to come at her pace within her context. I agree that size matters and so does soundness of mind (and body).

I adopted my 11 lbs. dog 10 years ago, history unknown, a totally untrained 2 year old. I discovered clicker training, took her through Sue Ailsby’s Training Levels, and she earned her CGC. She’s naturally polite and quiet and wants to please. Many people have reacted in wonder that she is not yappy and is the nicest small dog they’ve ever met. My previous dog was a husky- mix, a bold outgoing girl that I remember now as more of a friend or partner than Maggie who brings out all of my nurturing instincts. I am much more protective of Maggie due to her small size and meekness when faced with a bigger dog. I’ve had a labradoodle on his hind feet, clawing my arms to bloody scratches in order to get to her while the owner explained that his dog didn’t mean any harm.

Moment of silence for flock, family, and an ewe friend lost. In agreement with comments noting the many small dogs are of more independent breeds and have different owner expectations: Maybe there are owners (in my family perhaps) who love a strong-willed dog, who are both frustrated at some behaviors and also ok with

Wondering if small dogs get the same sort of pass on behaviors that cats do being of similar size. I realized last night, after following this discussion that I have no concerns about the 11 lb cat jumping into my lap when I have the laptop there as well but the 50 lb dog has had to learn to ask politely even though most of the time she wants in my lap because she’s frightened of something. The Great Catsby (cat) is unlikely to damage the laptop even by walking on it; the 50 lb Finna (dog) could wreck a screen pretty easily.

The Great Catsby has enthusiastically embraced the idea of clicker training and is learning everything Finna does which is fascinating to watch. I didn’t set out to train the cat but when the treats came out he was right there watching to see what was earning the dogs treats and offering up those behaviors. All my cats have learned basic manners, stay off counters and tables, no leaping onto me without an invitation, do not make a pest of yourself, etc. but this is the first one with any serious obedience training. It’s oddly satisfying having a cat with a sit, down, and stay.

We also used to go to the dog park a lot and it took my little guy only 3 visits to adjust, stop the excited barking and allow other dogs, some huge, to sniff and check him out. I credit our a bit bigger, more experienced, well socialized Isabella-girl with showing him the ropes. Little dogs need to work off their energy, running around the house or yard is not enough! I can trust my guy to go off lead in our public park, near traffic and be responsive to my calls, most often he will come flying back to me, ears flapping.

Treating little dogs like babies is abuse. And picking little dogs up rather then giving them a chance to socialize with other dogs is wrong. Even if the first encounter may be a bit of challenge, I so appreciate those that hang in and allow for the dogs to meet and greet under watchful eyes with corrections from humans if necessary. This is such an interesting thread, thanks for the topic and the many responses, fascinating.

Kat, my current kitty is very food-motivated and not suspicious (some cats are hard to train because they vanish when they think you want them to do something). Anyway, she has trained herself to go in an empty crate if I am doing something with one dog and have the other locked up.

She saw a dog in a crate getting treats and popped into the second crate. I thought it was so cute I gave her a small treat (piece of dog kibble, actually) in the crate. Since then, she runs right in when I lock one of the dogs up. Very cute until the other dog wants its crate. I think she would take well to training, but she’s deaf and prone to obesity so I’m not pursuing it seriously because there are too many downsides to trying to reward her. But it is funny to have a crate-trained cat. She’ll happily sit in there with the door locked if she knows her little treat is coming.

Back to little dogs being nippy…. so many of them are (compared to big dogs) that I still have to think part of it is that big dogs who bite are not often used as breeding stock. Little dogs who bite are given a pass (after all, it doesn’t hurt that much) and so stay in the gene pool. We know that a fair amount of behavior has a genetic base to it. There are some small breeds that rarely exhibit “small dog syndrome” and are almost always friendly and outgoing (most Shih-tzus I’ve met love everyone and are enthusiastic tail-waggers). Other small breeds are known to be cranky (Lhaso Apsos come to mind) while still others are known for being aggressively protective of their owners (Chihuahuas). There are so many individuals within certain breeds that exhibit those behaviors regardless of upbringing that I do believe there is a genetic base. It takes extreme breeding to get the tiny dogs so small and keep them there.

I realise that I never think of terriers as small dogs! Perhaps because round here they tend to be very much of the working Jack Russell type, or other fairly local working breeds (Borders, Lakelands, Patterdales, Airedales, Yorkshire, Staffies – all originating less than 100 miles from me). I think terriers are a law unto themselves – and anyone who gets a Jack Russell expecting a minimum exercise lapdog because of their size is in for a very rude awakening!

Size does appear to make a difference in how most people approach and deal with dogs.

I’m not a fan of small dogs and usually refer to them as Armpit Piranhas because too many of their doting owners carry them about while they snarl, growl, yap and snap. The reasons given by these folks for not socializing and training their dogs is that they are “too small to do any damage” and that “they don’t really listen to you”. I translate this to mean that the owner can’t be bothered to train when the dog can be grabbed up and manhandled

I have met several small dogs who have been treated like dogs and their owners expect them to behave like dogs. These little guys are a delight to have around – although I personally choose not to own one. I applaud their owners who took the time to train them and socialize them with dogs of all sizes and I appreciate the courage it takes to permit your little guy to meet a dog much bigger than himself.

I feel compelled to respond to those who say that it is wrong to pick up our little dogs in situations with other dogs. When we got our Papillon at age 10 mos she was terrified of strange dogs, most particularly large ones who showed an intense interest in her. We have worked on this for years now. We began with private lessons and counter-conditioning, finally got to the point she could take group lessons, continued to work. She has made huge progress. She now has dog friends – mostly big ones! – with whom she loves to take walks. But I still cross the street if approaching an unknown dog who is acting “intense”, and if we are in a place where I do not have an out and my dog begins acting scared of another dog, will I pick her up? You bet. One thing I have absolutely tried to demonstrate to her is that she can absolutely count on me to try to keep her safe. I’ve been doing this now for 3 years, and she is not more scared of dogs now, she is much less scared and much more likely to want to approach and greet a calm dog. Also, I completely feel for the people who comment that they have had little dogs bark and act aggressively towards their larger dogs – that is really unacceptable. It is also a very silly thing to allow a little dog to do, as it could put him into danger. But I also think that some large dog people do not realize just how much damage their dog can do to a tiny dog (ours is 6 lbs and fine-boned) even if not aggressive. Just a misplaced big paw in over-exuberant play can be deadly. And just like some owners of little dogs cannot be counted upon to train their dogs to exhibit polite behavior towards big dogs, some big dog owners cannot be counted on to step in and keep their big dog under safe control with a tiny dog. I would never put my tiny dog in an off-leash situation with an unknown large dog – the potential dangers are just too high.

In my current pack of 21, I was sitting outside the other day – Snowman and Sheila both wanted attention, both touched me with a paw. The difference is Snowman is a Great Pyrenees and Sheila a petite former mill Sheltie. I corrected Snowman but not Sheila! However, I agree small dogs need the mental support and structure I give to my larger dogs; it is easier to let it slide, though. Super post and discussion.

My Pom is on the ground – usually off leash – when encountering other dogs most of the time.

However, there have been a couple of situations where she has clearly been considered prey by big dogs and her health/life appeared to be in danger. A very dog savvy friend managed to just scoop her up before a charging fighting breed dog reached her after ripping his leash out off his owner’s hand and I picked her up myself once when being around a “hungry eyed” wolf hybrid.

And that is not taking in account the many times Pixie “just” got very scared by playful bigger dogs who were too rough on her or knocked her over when I only managed to pick her up after the fact… Well, of course, I am trying to protect her from bodily harm. Duh!!

And yes, I also think that it is perfectly fine that she screams bloody murder and even bites when she feels that she is in danger – after all, that is her only way of protecting her small and vulnerable body!

I have 2 large dogs and a small one out of the 3 dogs I only taught the GSD to sit , lay down etc the other large dog the Greyhound I taught him to come when called and walk after me off leash. My small dog he comes to work with me, he knows how to sit, he has his special corner in the house where he takes his food to, he is house trained, very social to humans and dogs and knows not to run off. So I work outside I can do my work without worrying about the dog running away. He just hangs around me. (and he just made me get up to let him out for a toilet break. 🙂 )

Either way I believe the difference in having to train a big dog as compared to a little dog is perception. People believe that a large dog is dangerous if untrained and they also believe that small dogs can’t be dangerous trained or not. They usual just say oh he/she is just barking because he/she is small. But on the other hand if a big dog just walks towards you out of curiosity people will automatically assume that it will attack and kill you. So I found that just by teaching my GSD to sit down calmly people relax around him more than if I had let him walk around.

I’ve always owned big dogs, though Otis is by far the biggest. I agree with what so many people have said about the double standard expected by both owners and the public- with a dog the size of Otis, barking or jumping is very seriously undesirable behavior- he could hurt someone, or frighten them badly with even low level excitement. I know this, and have accepted that it means that we have to be more strict than an owner of a small dog- Otis needs to be near-perfectly behaved at almost all times. It’s just reality- even on their own, big dogs self-handicap and take care when playing with smaller dogs.

With Otis so far on the extreme end, I’ve even observed some symptoms of ‘small dog syndrome’ emerging in my Sandy- girl, a 70lb shepherd/rottie cross. Because she’s the smallest of our regular play group, she’s gotten used to completely uninhibited play with Otis and Jaks-body slams and high-intensity wrestling-she bounces right off the big boys, who completely indulge her- pulling their punches, surrendering their toys, taking care not to land on her. Over the winter, we meet relatively few new dogs at the park, and most of the regulars skew hard toward the very large. Sandy IS one of the smallest dogs at 70 lbs. Today was a gorgeous morning, so tons of new and different folks were at the park- sure enough, after playing chase for a few minutes, Sandy clocked a dog almost exactly her own size with a full-power body slam. He wasn’t hurt, and recovered without any bad feelings, but he was clearly shocked and a little intimidated. She was being totally playful, and a little concerned when he hit the ground- she’s just not used to needing to self-handicap at all. It’s something that we have to keep an eye on.

It used to annoy me when small dog owners would scoop their dogs up the minute they came anywhere near Otis- especially if the dog was barking and snapping. Not because I didn’t understand the impulse to protect a little dog who could so easily be injured- Otis is very careful and tolerant with small dogs, but strangers obviously have no way of knowing that- the thing that used to bug me was the fact that because Otis is SO tall, scooping up a hostile little dog doesn’t actually lift him out of danger (there is no such thing as ‘out of reach’ to a great dane), it just raises him to eye level, where his behavior seems more threatening, particularly since many small dogs seem to escalate their defensive aggression when being held.

Even though he has never been aggressive toward a small dog, Otis never used to react AT ALL to tiny terrors UNTIL their owners picked them up- then, he’d become focused and concerned, much more inclined to approach. After a few months, he learned to ignore them regardless. But if he had been inclined to be aggressive, a small, quick dog zipping around on the ground would actually have been in much less danger than that same dog held still at eye level.

As I said, this USED to annoy me, until I spent a week dog-sitting a chihuahua. This eight-pound dog had an absolutely lovely personality, got along quite well with other dogs, hiked like a trooper and was generally a pleasure to be around. It was also amusing to meet people out and about while walking both a great dane and a chihuahua. What struck me most about the experience was not how different a small dog was from a large one, it was how HARD it is to physically manage a very small dog, compared to a large one. It was so much harder to catch hold of him, to block his movement, even to make eye contact. I don’t even carry a leash for Otis at the park, not just because he doesn’t generally need one, but because in the event that I need to maintain physical control, I can actually just hold his collar and walk normally- he may be strong, but there is no chance for a dog the size of Otis to slip past me or scoot between my feet. When he wanders into the edge of the weeds, he doesn’t disappear, and I never worry that I’m going to slip and fall on him or catch him on the chin with my bootheel. I’m not exactly a clumsy person, but I’m absentminded, and accustomed to moving around my house without any worry that one of the dogs has quietly come up behind me and is lurking under my feet. I also have a hard time discouraging jumping in very small dogs, because I AM less likely to notice a teeny dog standing quietly-they have such a hard time estabishing eye contact with their feet on the floor- and I’m not in the least disturbed by an eight-pound dog climbing into my lap or standing up against my leg. There are more polite and less polite ways to exhibit this behavior, and while I’m pretty good about insisting on gentleness and calmness, I can’t bring myself to correct teeny dogs for any and all jumping up.

Typically, I’m an off-leash evangelist, and I hate those retractable leashes (badly used, they’re a menace to walkers and cyclists), but it was really hard for me to feel confident enough to let go of this perfectly well-mannered little dog. And when a rowdy bunch of dogs came crashing around, I did it. I picked him up.

I was just so concerned that he’d end up under the feet of a dog roughhousing with Otis. Otis can take hits in play that would rattle my teeth and pop up immediately for another round. I don’t fear for him around rough or snarky dogs, and I know that no one will step on or trip over him by accident. I can watch him out of the corner of my eye and spot him a hundred yards away at a single glance.

In contrast, I found having a very small dog, even a very wonderful small dog, to be more than a little nervewracking, and I gained a new compassion for people struggling to manage small dogs. I still wish nervous owners wouldn’t pick snarling dogs up- but I can totally understand why they do. I’m sure that at some point in my life, I won’t be athletic enough to be a responsible owner to a giant dog, but I really, really doubt that I will ever own a tiny one. For me, at least, it’s just too difficult.

I used to do competition obedience with my older BC, and for some reason, always found it quite refreshing when I saw folks with Min Pins, Toy Poodles, etc, doing high level obedience training. Their dogs were confident, poised, friendly, and knew how to behave in public. As many in this thread have noted, we all EXPECT larger dogs to behave if they’re in public…but owners of small dogs often seem oblivious to their pets’ rude behavior. Why is it a refreshing anomoly when a small or toy breed dog presents itself with dignity and grace? Clearly, the dogs are perfectly capable – it’s the owners who need an attitude adjustment.

I agree that there is definitely a difference in how small dogs are treated, and how their behavior is perceived compared to larger breeds.

Ive nursed previously and currently work in pet retail and see owners and their dogs all day with varying issues and needs.

It seems to me that owners of larger dogs who have problem behaviors are more likely to be aware of them and actively trying to correct them whilst small dog owners need to be encouraged to train and teach their dogs how to fit in with our people world.

Training is often overlooked because their size makes them physically manageable I think – if they don’t do what we ask we can just move them out of the way

Small dogs that exhibit behavior you wouldn’t tolerate in a larger dog once, let alone daily, are being pandered too because we don’t want to say no – so i see dogs that bite their owners, terrorize the other pets, cant be handled by other people and have no social skills or manners.

I try to tell our clients that dogs are dogs first, our babies second and they need to trained and socialized no matter their size or past.

My favorite thing to ask small dog owners is “Imagine your dog is a Rottweiler, would this behavior still be acceptable?” The response is inevitably “No!” and my follow up ” Then why are you letting your dog behave like that?” initiates some great conversations.

I have a small dog – Moose is an 8kg mix – who I love to death, but he is polite, responsive and social and knows he is a dog 🙂

As a result I can take him anywhere and be confident that he will be relaxed and make friends – human and canine, which just makes me sad for all the little dog who don’t get the opportunity to have such rich lives because no one has taught them how to belong.

I also meet loads of awesome little dogs and little dog owners, but in my day to day experience, the group with bigger issues that are overlooked and brushed off are the little guys – and it seems to be sized based.

I also tell everyone there is no such thing as “little dog syndrome” – its “little dog owner syndrome” – i feel bad that small breeds get such a bad rep when owners are the ones teaching and tolerating their bad behavior!

I have only had two small dogs, a mini dachshund, and now a mini mutt that is part chihuahua, pug and dachshund. It looks like a big chihuahua. Both dogs were my wife’s idea.

The only observations I have about small dogs is that they are not as smart as big dogs. What do you expect from something with a brain the size of a peanut? They do not have the memory or reasoning ability of a large dog.

I am a volunteer trainer at a shelter. The larger dogs (especially Pitbulls and other large breeds that are often misunderstood) always are put on the training list. Small dogs only appear on an occasional basis–and then it’s only the puppy mill survivors who need socialization, not behavior modification or impulse control. I think the idea is that people will be more likely to adopt the small dogs anyway, regardless of their behavior.

I have a small-medium dog – Ranger is an English cocker spaniel – 34 pounds (yes he should be 32 pounds but we’ve both had a pudgy winter). He is obedient, comes, sits, was perfectly housetrained, stays (if there is a reason he agrees with) and more to the point understands “settle down”- the joy of my life. BUT he jumps up- puts his feet on your leg & tries to get high up like all the big dogs in the neighbourhood. If he were a big dog there is no way I would ever have allowed him to jump up – and to this day I vacillate bteween discipling him for it & allowing it (yes I know – a guarantee he’ll always jump). He is pretty & sweet & I should stop him jumping up ! The second question I wanted to raise was the issue of small & smallish dogs barking – Trisha, you’ll be able to set me straight on this, but isn’t it often that they are barking in fear ? Ranger went from crying & trying to escape from big dogs who frightened him to (at about 2 years of age) – barking at them. He is not afraid of all big dogs – he has several chums in the neighbourhood & also often likes strange big dogs but there are some big dogs he is afraid of & will challenge & lunge at from half a block away. What, in the evolution of dogs, would lead them to believe that barking would frighten away a large threat- I try to explain that he would be better off to be quiet so they don’t notice him (and no, I don’t expect him to understand me). Many of those “yappy” small dogs may be frightened out of their wits. This of course is not the same as being a pest at home & yapping for attention, but a response to threat (real or not). We work on his reactivity to large dogs – I follow your advice & ofeer a treat to distract him & that works but I am curious about where this coping mechanism originated. Thanks for your blog & the input from all the reader – I find it all so interesting.

Neither of my dogs are small, I’d class them as medium sized. However even so a large ‘scary’ breed dog that was as human-reactive as Twix would be in deep doo-doo with the general public.

My other dog is a Working Springer and she is currently the smallest (or at least shortest) dog in our Bronze training class. The others include a dane, a gsdxstd poodle and a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, all of which tower over her!

The only really small dog was a Pug that came a few times but was unsocialised and really couldn’t cope with the situation.

I have two small dogs after years of medium to large breed dogs. I adore the smaller size. One of mine is a therapy dog and the other participates in agility. I’ve trained both small dogs (a Chihuahua and a Dacshund/rat terrier mix) to do all the behaviors I trained with my larger dogs. I did this partly out of habit. I’ve been training dogs since the 70’s and love every minute of doing such and another is (after years of teaching) seeing owners not train their small dogs. Many small dog owners laugh at growling (“look at how big he thinks he/she is”), possessiveness, NOT housebreaking (“it’s so small..we do try”). I think too, many small dog breeders (of course small dog breeders do not have the corner market on this) breed for a dog they can sell, show or whatever and temperament is not taken into account as much as other factors. The out of control little dog is also exacerbated by the fact you are much larger. Heck, if you just hold it you can control lots of issues! I always think would I let my (insert the name of a large breed dog) to such a thing. Dogs read dogs as dogs…not big dog, little dog, etc. I think if my small dog growls at a large dog, that large dog is not thinking…”oh, small dog, let it go”… that large dog reads it as a dog…size is not an issue between these two….so, it shouldn’t be for me! By, the way, I do watch my dogs with bigger dogs…they play well with others but can easily get injured in the fun…those are my kind of differences. Thanks for all your writings. I always read everything you put into print!

I was having a nice quiet pootling walk across a field this afternoon with three small dogs (Papillon, Toy Poodle and Border Terrier) when they lifted a hare right under my feet … if anyone ever wonders whether toy dogs are “real” dogs just watch a small Poodle running like a greyhound after a hare bigger than she is! Fortunately the field was well enclosed, and eventually the excitement of the hunt wore off enough for them to come and tell me all about it, but we are back to even more frequent recall reps!

As a child growing up on a farm, we had small farm dogs. They pretty much acted like any other dog we had. I did not see any primary differences except that visitors to the farm were not intimidated by the smaller dogs. All the dogs guarded their territory and a dog nipping at your heals was very different than a dog in your face.

I now have my first small companion dog. A different ball game than those small farm dogs. I made a conscience decision that he would be trained and treated the same as my Labs had been in the past. That worked to a degree.

All the dogs attended training and the small dog learned as quickly and well as the larger dogs. In many ways better, as he is the first dog I have trained using R+ methods.

The labs were allowed on the bed, but that was pretty much it for furniture. Why? Hair and dirt.

My boy, who is a Cavalier ( go Tootsie!), is allowed on just about any piece of furniture there is! Why? It doesn’t seem to matter as his imprint is minimal. He is often asked to “hop up” on a bench or sofa so it is easier for me to put on his halter and leash. This puts him at about the same height the larger dog would naturally present.

I agree with others when they state that the smaller dogs do not necessarily get the same outside the home interactions that larger dogs get. He doesn’t have the same physical requirement for exercise as the larger dogs and so gets most of his exercise in playtime retrieve sessions in the small backyard. This would never be enough for a larger breed.

He is a bit overwhelmed at the dog park and so that isn’t a place we go. Lapdog cavalier vs feisty terriers is not a particularly good personality match.

My belief is that the issue is not as much large vs small dog, but owner actions that have the larger impact on the behaviors of these animals. We often have small dogs for different reasons than we have/had large dogs and therefore our expectations are different. (Sport vs companion; Home vs apartment; ability of aging owners to physically handle smaller dogs)

I think the energy level point someone raised above was a good one. Bunches of the popular small breeds are pretty high energy dogs and yet are often acquired because people live in small spaces or places with weight restrictions on dogs. I see tons of terrier mixes, especially, that just seem to need more to do and a lot more exercise than bigger dogs or their toy counterparts and I can easily see excitable crankiness being part of that.

This topic has been eye-opening for me. Previously I had 2 Vizslas and they went to training. I’ve been without a dog for 2 years, and just brought a cockapoo puppy home. For me, it wasn’t a question of whether or not he would go training – I just thought that’s what everyone did. I started with sit and down before puppy class even started.

However, I have been having some issues with my three-month old bundle of energy. One is biting – some of it is puppy teething, but also grabbing legs and shoes, but we are working on controlling the biting. The other is an aggressiveness or fear of people. It’s concerned me, mainly when he meets new people, he may snap at them if they approach him first. I’m working on socializing him, fortunately I can bring him to work with me and he travels with me. I warn people and I find that if they allow him to approach them, it goes much better. I have been trying to figure out where this fear is coming from and I believe I have figured it out. Now I need to work on socializing him and getting more comfortable. Oddly, he is fine with dogs, especially the Vizslas I house-sit.

Now, the work continues. I will say one challenge I have had is with some trainers and groomers being very rude to me – I recognize my puppy’s issues and I am working on them, and looking for their help; however, they apparently are tired of so many poorly-trained little dogs that I get lumped into a “bad owner” category. It’s frustrating.

Hi! I’ve only had large dogs (greyhounds), and admit that I did not do much training with my first girl. As I put it, she’s wasn’t a well-trained dog, but she was a very well-behaved dog. She was calm, quiet, peaceful, friendly, would stand or lie quietly and walked well on leash. So there wasn’t really a need to train her to make her an acceptable dog in public. Heck, vets would let her lie around loose in the office when she had to stay in for things like x-rays, because she would quietly lie on her bed wherever you put it.

My second girl has been in training class, because she is an incredibly shy dog and needs all the help that she can get to learn that the world is an ok place.

But what I have been wondering, based on some of the comments about smaller dogs being harder to train because they are smaller, is whether small dogs were better trained in the negative-reinforcement days. It seems like it would be easy to use a choke-chain on them (perhaps even easier than with a bigger dog, because they are small and need less strength to handle). So is this a new phenomena, with the change to positive reinforcement training, or has it always been this way?

I co-teach the AKC STAR Puppy class at our training center, and although we will allow people to carry small dogs into the building, once they are in the training ring, we insist they walk on their own four feet. I try to instill the idea that tiny dogs will also benefit from being treated like dogs, rather than dolls.

Perhaps because I am a dog trainer, I will be the exception, but I know for a fact that my expectations for my little dogs are the same as for my big dogs. And I have hadto my personal dog be everywhere from 8 pounds to 130 pounds. It is almost as though you need to start teaching impulse control exercises too cute little puppies even sooner van with big puppies because the cuteness !will !win you over every time. I currently have a chinese crested and a italian mastiff, and they are both very obedient dogs. However people are definitely more surprised to see him(the crested) do some beautiful healing or show of a 5 minute solid sit stay. I think you are right about expectations!!!!!

Honestly it is the owner. I have two sisters, they’ve each owned two Papillons. One sister’s first Papillon was very smart, but aggressive and nasty. I trained him in Obedience and Agility and we were able to get his Novice titles, but it was a huge amount of work. My other sister’s first Papillon was sweet, very much under control, loved people and was a breeze to train. Unfortunately he was killed by a big dog before we got further than his Novice Agility title. Sister one’s second Papillon is has a great personality, but is wild and out of control. I’ve already told her, I will not train and show her dog. My second sister’s second Papillon was sweet, calm and she worked with him in obedience and I worked with him in agility, he did great until he got sick (he had EPI). I really think it’s so much the owner.

I am not sure why people think little dogs are harder to train? The only way I think a little dog could be harder to train in obedience/trick/etc type things is that they are so low down. So unless you want to stoop way down to train something like heel, you take advantage of a target stick, or peanut butter on the end of a wooden spoon, or something similar. I also found that some tricks had to be taught a different way than was suggested for a big dog just due to issues presented by size. For several things I found shaping or capturing worked better for my 6 pounder than luring, because she was able to reach the lure without attaining the desired position. But all these things are workable with a little imagination. I would completely disagree with the poster who commented that small dogs have less brain power than big dogs and don’t have the memory and reasoning power of a large dog.

The one area I did have trouble was housetraining. She was 10 mos and unhousetrained when we got her, and it did take a long time and significant effort before she could have free run of a large two story house.

Rebecca, having had a small dog back when punishment was much more accepted in training than it is today, I tend to think the opposite is true. I think little dogs are more likely to bite in self-protection. I think they tend to feel genuinely threatened a little more quickly than big dogs, probably because we are so much bigger than they are. My little dog would definitely not think twice about growling/snapping at a correction (meaning a stern “no” and maybe a finger wag). The big dogs we had all tolerated that.

I wanted to toss out there that many of the small breeds that act more like bigger dogs, at least as I view it, come from an ancestry that was bred to do a job. It occurs to me that it’s perhaps not just modern breeding that has some impact, but historical selection. Terriers were bred to work and frequently are just fine with big dogs, and very confident over all.

In addition, quite a few small breeds were bred specifically to be inside alarm dogs, before we had modern locks and police departments. If an intruder got past the big sentry dogs, the little dog would alert to something in the house. It occurs to me that there may be some selection towards being hyper-alert to small changes in the environment, and towards suspiciousness.

Very interesting Beth – I too wonder if the continuing prevalence of correction based training is actually one of the reasons for snappy small dogs? It is almost impossible to do a “correct” collar yank on a tiny dog without lying flat on the floor (one of the reasons I abandoned this sort of training some years ago and went looking for something better). So anyone raised with this form of training, or who gets their idea of dog training from He-Who-Cannot-Be Gainsaid on television, is likely to be inflicting considerable pain and discomfort on their small dog frequently and repeatedly. Almost a recipe for creating a dog/human/whatever reactive canine.

With the breeds I have (shiba, akita) that I have spent more time training the shiba because she is higher energy and really is a big dog in a little body.

I think that smaller dogs are viewed as nippier or more aggressive because they are more defensive. People tend to invade their space more and in some ways treat them less respectfully and with less caution. They get picked up out of the blue, people grab them without any concern about whether they like it or not, strangers pat them on the head roughly. If it was a large dog, no one would invade their space so abruptly and people would be a little more aware of the dog’s body language. Having large dogs myself, I tend to treat small dogs as if they were large dogs and try not to invade their space or pick them up roughly etc. Sometimes when I watch how small dogs are handled, I think, I would never do that to one of my akitas and think about how the small dog must perceive such actions.

After 25 years of raising and competing with Collies (not BCs), we got our first little dog, a Border Terrier. Other than puppy class with my 10 year old son, she got very little training. I can use the excuse that she was my 10 year old son’s dog,but really, she was easy to manage, all 13 lbs of her, just scoop her up when needed. She finished in conformation and got her Master Earthdog title, both areas that don’t require a lot of impulse control – just the opposite with earthdog. Then, when she was 7 years old, we started agility. Oops! Just try to teach a mature TERRIER to “down”. Terriers (small dogs in general?) hate that position. “I don’t think so” was the look she gave me. And, being very outwardly focused, with little training to focus on me, she was a handful at trials, as she did not like Border Collies giving her “eye”.

Her granddaughter, my current agility dance partner, was raised from 8 weeks just like one of my Collies. Sit, down, loose leash walking, focus on me, leave it etc. She is a joy to have at an agility trial. She fully accepts that it is my job to keep her safe. If a rude dog gets in her face, she usually glares at me, letting me know I am not doing my job. She has been very successful at agility and I love to “dance with my dog”.

So, perhaps it also depends on what you want to do with your small dog. If you want to go out there and compete in performance events, you need to raise them like a big dog. Just spoil them at home, yep, they can get away with a lot.

I’ve had dogs of all sizes and many breeds and do indeed expect more from the larger breeds than the smaller ones. The smallest dog I’ve had was a 4LB Pomeranian. She walked beautifully on leash, came when called, knew how to sit, settle, and go to her bed. There were no expectations beyond that at all although she would pick this up when I learned how to clicker train. My border collie mix is very strong and can knock you down with her greetings. She continues to be reminded she must sit politely and not place her paws on people. The middle sized ones are Jack Russells. The 13LB male is reactive/submissive and extremely people oriented (he doesn’t understand dogs outside of those in his household). He has gone through formal clicker training and is rather reliable. His 10LB half sister has also gone through the same formal clicker training and is the best trained of all dogs I’ve had. She will wait politely, not rush through doors, etc. There are times she will look at me as if to say “I GET it already – can we move on?”

I suspect we unconsciously allow certain dogs to “get away” with certain things because of their breeds and/or personalities. For myself, if the toy breeds have mastered the basics, that’s fine. The working/hunting types need a bit more discipline and I’m less tolerance of shenanigans.

Having only had/have a Great Dane, I’m not sure I can contribute that much to the conversation. I can say that I got my dog at 3 years old and he appeared to know nothing other than being housebroken. We had a LOT to work on and there was no doubt in my mind that that doing lots of manners training was an absolute requirement for my dog. He could literally knock me aside to get to the food on the counter… All in good humor of course, but that was not something I wanted to live with.

Here’s one thing that this conversation has sparked with me. Please don’t anyone take it as a criticism. It is not. I would be in the exact same position as many people here have posted if I had a little dog. I can’t even imagine having to bend down to give a treat all the time to a face that is 6 inches off the ground.

Here’s the thought: A few months ago, I went to a seminar taught by Ken Ramirez. Don’t consider this an exact quote, but here is what I understood to be what Ken called his training bias. He said that Training/Behavior Management is like food or water. It is as important to taking care of an animal as any basic necessity. Training provides two important functions: ability to give proper medical care/daily living, and – here’s my key: – mental stimulation.

It is that idea that training = essential = mental stimulation, which we have to supply because (most of) our dogs (or cats or ferrets or birds or hamsters or …) are not hunting for their own food and water and mates and shelter, etc – is an idea that I have bought into 100%. I feel I owe it to my dog to train him throughout his life in the same way that I owe it to my dog to give him food and water. Duke got his manners (mostly) years ago. But I still train him. Not for my benefit. For his. For his mental health. He loves our training time together. The training is clealry an important (dare I say vital?) part of his life.

If one believes that proper training provides vital mental stimulation (and a happy, complete animal), and if one believes that small dogs have the same needs for mental stimulation that big dogs have (I don’t see why not), then maybe we do our small dogs a disservice when we don’t give them the same training that we give our big dogs. And maybe those *stereotypes* of small dogs being problems (yappy, biters, hyper, etc) have a basis in truth because the dogs are not getting that training and so have mental issues.

Of course, I am making super broad generalizations here. Depending on a dog’s mental capacity?/needs?, a dog may be perfectly happy without a lot of mental stimulation. It’s just something to think about.

Put another way: I’m sort of saying what Trisha is saying in her blog post, but I’m coming at it down a different path and making a different point. Again, just something to think about.

One, people tend to see what they expect to see, and if you’re looking for badly be faced small dogs, that’s what you’ll see.

Two, a well-behaved small dog is nearly invisible.

Third, I’ve seen people look at the exact same behavior in little dogs and big, and call it different things, always to the detriment of the little dog. Big dogs are energetic; little dogs are dervishes. Big dogs do their jobs alerting to strangers or unusual sounds; little dogs are yappy. And so on.

Had my dog rushed the Golden that day, and the Golden expressed his alarm and displeasure, no one would have blamed the Golden, or let me off the hook for having my dog off leash where that’s illegal.

Lis: I hadn’t read all of the above replies before adding my own thoughts. After seeing your reply to my post, I went up to find your original post. I’m sorry you have experienced such bias. I don’t approve of such behavior. Neither do I have a bias against small dogs. I think it is too bad that you have had such problems.

As for my post, I have not overlooked anything. Or at least, I have not overlooked your points. I am saying something that is completely different from the subject you are covering.

As I said, I am sorry you have experienced such bigoted behavior towards your dog. For what it is worth, I have had opposite experiences with my super-large dog. I have had more than one occasion when my dog had been on leash in a public on-leash park and a small off-leash dog will run up to my dog and start barking. My dog has been bloodied by more than one little dog when my dog was doing nothing but standing by my side. One little *tiny*, off-leash dog once actually ran up out of nowhere that I could see, leaped up to the side of my dog’s stomach and held on with his teeth. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. That dog had to jump several times his height to get to my dog’s stomach. (I was horrified at the time, but thinking back on it, it was a pretty impressive feat.)

And when these situations happen, I’m always concerned that my dog will get into trouble. Because even if another dog starts something, my dog has the potential to finish it in a bad way (he never has) for the little dog, and I’m certain that my dog will be blamed for it.

None of which means that little dogs are bad or good. Or big dogs are bad or good. These are just stories/anecdotes that you and I have. I have met some wonderful little dogs, and I don’t like barking no matter what size dog is doing it. (I lucked out and got my perfect dog. He rarely makes a peep. Not a sound when the doorbell rings even. I can’t claim credit for it, though. He came that way.)

No, the point I was making was that all dogs could use lots of training throughout their whole lives. I was reacting to the idea posted by many here (and also said to me by small dog owners) that a certain (large?) percentage of small dogs do not get the same level of training as big dogs (I’m not talking about your situation personally!) because the dog is easy to manage physically and so dang cute. My point is that such dogs may be missing out on important mental health support.

If training is just about making life easier for the humans (because managing the dog becomes easier when a dog is trained), then training small dogs is not as important as training large dogs. Small dogs are simply easier to manage even without training. However, my point is that maybe we should all think of Training (with a capital T) as something that is as much if not more for the dog’s benefit and happiness than about making life easier for us, the humans. If people consciously thought that way, they would work as hard to spend as much quality training time with their small dogs as they do with their large dogs.

I hesitated to post anything on this topic because I was afraid that my thoughts would be construed as biased against small dogs or that I somehow think that small dog owners do not care as much about their dogs as large dog owners. Nothing could be further from the truth about my feelings. I eventually decided to post something because I thought that it might help some human “out there” see training in a different light and thus help a dog in the future. If that happens, awesome.

Lis C, I’m a little surprised at how events unfolded. I’ve never personally seen that sort of reaction by observers. When we see a big dog barrel right up to a little dog, the reaction of most people I know is toward the BIG dog, saying “Don’t be such a bozo, you goof! It’s clear you are scaring the pants off him.” And I have heard people describe the same behavior in small dogs as cute, charming etc but described in big dogs as obnoxious, scary, rude etc. I do think those things go both ways. If you have any doubts, compare the reaction of someone when a big dog bounces up to them and slams into them with his front feet, and then when a tiny dog charges up an does the same. Or the reaction of people to a Yorkie with the zoomies compared to a Labrador with the zoomies. Guess which dog in those cases is considered the cutie?

I know quite a few tiny dogs who play so well with the big dogs that they need their owners to watch lest they get hurt.

As for the Golden, my personal experience is that dogs who don’t mind having their own space barged into are not inclined to be considerate of other dogs’ space either. One of mine is an over-exuberant greeter of dogs and he will frequently run right up to other dogs. He can always avoid the aggressive ones, but he occasionally overwhelms a shy one. He will then back off and give it space, but his first inclination is to say “Hello friend!” with the same exuberance he greets everyone else.

Anyway, I don’t see so much of what I can only describe as the prejudice described here. Having said that, I have lived with little dogs and know lots and lots of lovely little dogs, but personally I would not want to own a little dog again. I do think that if I had to live where there were size restrictions of under 25 pounds, I just would not have a dog. I don’t like having tiny little dogs underfoot and I’m not crazy about walking them; the world is much riskier when you weigh 9 pounds. I don’t dislike small dogs and enjoy greeting the small dogs of other people, but they are just not for me personally.

Here’s what I have to add after seeing thousands of clients, being at a gazillion training classes, dog parks, etc etc. Regrettably, either flat out rudeness or at best, obliviousness, seems to be an equal opportunity employer. I’ve seen people let their dogs do all kinds of things in the name of “he’s just playing” or “isn’t she cute” — and I’m not at all sure that the size/breed/sex/color of the dog matters. And I’ve seen all variety of owners be upset/angry/appalled at the behavior of another’s, no matter the size or hair length or anything else of the dog. There seems to be a percentage — I won’t even take a guess — of dog owner’s who make the lives of others, uh, a bit challenging. As they say in the American South: “Bless their hearts.”

Trisha, thank you for putting that much better than I did! I did not mean to imply that Lis has not experienced things exactly how she describes: I am quite certain she has. Rather, I was pointing out that the opposite is also frequently true. On re-reading my post, I’m not sure that’s how it sounded. I have also seen people with little dog-aggressive dogs that barrel right up to big dogs and snarl in their faces, and the little dog owners laugh and say something like ‘Oh, he thinks he’s so tough!”

As far as approaching other dogs, there is a huge spectrum of behaviors out there. Jack is frequently very good with shy dogs and I’ve seen him pull more than one shy dog out of its shell by lying down/turning away when the other dog would back up, then standing up to be approached and repeating til the other dog relaxes. Where he seems to have a problem is when another dog initially gives signals that it wants to meet-and-greet: moving forward, happily wagging, big doggie grin. Then Jack comes up and the dog runs backward. If the other dog is clearly initially shy, he gets that message. If the dog says “Hello!” and then immediately “Oh no!” he seems a little confused by the mixed signals.

I find a fair number of dogs behave that way. They seem genuinely eager to meet other dogs, then the other dog gets close and they change their minds. I wonder if that may be a naturally friendly dog who lacked early dog-to-dog socialization and so does not know how to act? Just guessing, and now that’s gone a bit off-topic.

“If you have any doubts, compare the reaction of someone when a big dog bounces up to them and slams into them with his front feet, and then when a tiny dog charges up an does the same.”

I don’t know about you, but when a big dog does that to me, there’s a real risk my reaction will be expressed while I’m lying on the ground, trying to figure out if I have any real injuries. I’m sorry, but if you have a truly big dog, you are living with the reality that your dog can potentially cause serious injury while trying to be friendly, if he’s not trained.

Just as I have to deal with the fact that a truly big dog could pick up my newest addition, give a couple of shakes, and she’d be dead.

That’s not big dog bias OR little dog bias. That’s physics.

Every dog needs to be taught not to jump on people, because regardless of whether the dog would cause injury by doing so. Muddy pawprints, torn nylons, even torn skin in the case of, for instance, elderly people with especially delicate skin, are a possibility regardless of the size of the dog, not to mention people like my aunt who are simply scared of dogs regardless of size, or who are severely allergic.

But if you think it’s size bias that makes a big dog jumping up and smacking someone in the chest with his paws more upsetting than a little dog putting his paws on their knee, you might want to think through that again.

” Or the reaction of people to a Yorkie with the zoomies compared to a Labrador with the zoomies. Guess which dog in those cases is considered the cutie?”

Um. Let me think.

[pause]

I know! The one who hasn’t swept the cups off the coffee table in the course of his zoomies!

But let that Yorkie trip someone or make someone drop something in attempting to avoid him, or jump up on the table, he’s suddenly not so “cute” because he’s genuinely causing a problem–just like the Lab was, even though not in exactly the same way.

There are practical consequences to having a big dog or a small dog. You have to keep your dog from knocking people over; I have to keep mine from tripping them.

There is no practical way to treat a 9-pound animal and a 90-pound animal “exactly the same.” They both need to be trained, bu the “practical” aspects of training cannot be made exactly the same, because the practical considerations are not the same.

They both benefit from training beyond the practical, learning to do things beyond basic obedience, for their mental stimulation and enjoyment of the world–but a Yorkie isn’t going to compete in disk dog, and a Great Dane is not going to do too well with tricks that involve going under the handler’s legs.

I think you have never heard the remarks directed at small dog owners because they’re not directed at you. I wish I had a nickel for every time someone has said their dog could eat mine for a snack. That’s supposed to be a joke, and I’m supposed to laugh. Same with the statement that they could kick my dog across the room.

And of course, the ever-popular “get a real dog.”

Idiots who say, and assume it’s true, that my dogs aren’t as smart because they’re not as big.

All the work I’ve done getting my older dog over her fears, getting her comfortable with the world and with other dogs, and every so often we get charged by yet another big dog, and I have to go back several steps. Sometimes it’s dogs like that idiot Golden, who mean no harm, but scare her anyway. Other times, it’s the boxer bitch around the corner from us. Her owners are normally good about containing her, but every so often she slips passed them, and she firmly believes no other dogs belong on HER street. It happened again last week, the first time since my new dog has been with us, and my older girl kept herself firmly between my new girl and the boxer the whole time while the boxer’s owner was catching up, until we were able to break it up. No physical harm done, but she’s been more reactive since then. Not nearly as bad as she used to be, but it’s still work I have to do with her over again.

And yes, the world is riskier when you’re just nine pounds, and that won’t stop the owner of the 90-pound dog from saying you’re a bad owner if you’re not willing to “let the dogs settle it themselves.” But, sorry, my first obligation is to my dog’s safety, and not to someone else’s ideas of what is “correct.”

I’ll never have a big dog again, and not because, or not just because, I have a tiny house and no land. I love to have them on the couch with me, or on the bed with me. I feel more secure because I know that if they were ill or hurt, I could easily carry them to the car to get to the vet. I don’t know what I would do with a big dog who was too ill to walk to the car.

I love my dogs. I put in a lot of work with my dogs. And whenever there’s a blog post or an article about the differences between big dogs and little dogs, it’s always about little dogs being reactive or nasty, and their owners not training them. Oh, and they’re stupid dogs, too.

Yes I treat different dogs different ways–not always because of their sizes. I do dog-sitting at people’s houses and also take in well behaved dog in my studio apartment. I also help people with minor behavior problems and beg. obedience.

I can’t really say it’s all about size, because I am very vigilant with terriers, and small bully type dogs, Corgis and a few other breeds. But I am more forgiving of Chi, and ‘lap-dogs’. I things the latter category is more fragile, has less training from their owners, don’t want to do real ‘damage’ to humans or other dogs therefore I am much less concerned or strict with them.

I am glad to have a lap dog sleep with me as is his or her habit, while larger breeds will be asked to sleep in their beds. It is my belief that lap dogs need more tender care because they are so small. But of course I do not abide by aggression, resource guarding, soiling the house etc.

I have found it very helpful to train smaller dogs in an elevated area like an ottoman or coffee table. I really like facing them, and my knees being a bit wonky it is not easy for me to sit on the floor. I trained my first dog–a miniature Dachshund–in basic obedience by 4 months, entirely on the dining-room table, and it translated to ground level just fine. I think this method would greatly help people who are not so flexible to train their small dogs.

I have noticed that some small dog owners treat them with a great deal of codependence. Treating the dog like a human companion, expecting wanting and training responses that resemble human relationships. This concerns me a lot more than a few yips or a dirty paw on my pant leg.

I just finished caring for a Frenchie/Boston who’s needs have been taken care of before she could even express them, who is coddled constantly, whose barking is thought of as ‘talking’ and whose biting (skateboarders three different instances) is ignored, etc. I could go on, you know the dog who has a bed on the kitchen counter because the owner can’t stand to be apart, even when chopping vegies. The result is a highly stressed dog who cannot care for herself and, when her routine changes, goes into very high level of discomfort. Kind of like the opposite of a puppy-mill dog. This is not so unusual I have found, and is mostly seen in small dogs. My guess is that it is not possible to cuddle a 70lb dog etc..

I am very interested in reading more about this. I haven’t been able to found any research about the psychological effect of such unnatural demands on a canine.

Lis, perhaps you missed the part where I said I have owned a little dog (I think she went around 13 pounds). My aunt has Jack Russells. So does my brother. My current two are Corgis and are hardly big. I have heard derogatory remarks directed at big dogs AND small dogs. I guess that I just don’t see the remarks as being so one-sided as you see them, that’s all. I have made remarks about someone else’s dog being able to eat mine, so I guess someone saying that would not offend me. Someone in our dog play group showed up with a St Bernard and don’t you think there were TONS of comments about his size? I joked that my Maddie was as big as the Bernard’s head. The owner said something about when he was “little” and there were jokes all around that he was probably never as little as mine are now. When dogs are at an extreme in size in either direction people notice and tend to mention it. I have Corgis. Guess how many times people ask what happened to their legs, or where are their tails? People assume they’ll be slow like a Basset and are always shocked the first time they see them move. I don’t take offense because they ARE short and they DO look like they should be slow. They are also typical Corgi bossy boots with other dogs, and I regularly hear “Don’t mess with the Corgis” directed in the general direction of the dogs. Yet these are people who love my dogs, are happy to see them and greet them warmly.

I have seen and heard just as many times when people automatically think the little dogs are cute and the big ones scary. How many people mistakenly think the little dog is the better choice for their small children, when often that is not the case? And so on. People make a lot of assumptions based on size, but it is not just an anti-small-dog bias.

As far as people thinking small dogs are “stupid” honestly that is the first time I have ever heard a single person express that sentiment. Many trick dogs are small dogs. If anything, I tend to associate smallness with cleverness and resourcefulness. Many of the toy breeds are among the most intelligent in dogdom. My own little dog (mother cockapoo, father unknown) was the smartest dog I’ve ever had in the house til my current male Corgi.

You seem to have landed in a nest of anti-small dog bias that I have not seen so much around here. And I’ll tell you another thing: small dogs move out of shelters in no time. Try finding someone to love you if you are an adolescent Rottie/ Pit Bull mix and find yourself in the shelter, bouncing on people. Toy dogs who bite get place in homes that warn “No small children. Might nip.” Big dogs who bite get euthanized. Are there very good reasons for that? Yes, there are. But it seems a bit unfair to label biases that work against big dogs as justified and those against small dogs as unwarranted. It’s not a one-way street. Everyone who owns dogs has run into someone who judged their dog negatively based on preconceived notions, or who questioned how they handled their dog.

As far as I’ve observed, which I’ll happily admit is incomplete and unscientific, the likelihood that the dog will sleep on the bed is inversely related to the size of the dog, and also strongly affected by whether the owner is single or a member of a couple. A dog who is a little warm lump beside you in bed is a lot different from a dog big enough to take up more of the bed than you do. Nevertheless, there are people with little dogs who would not dream of allowing them to sleep on the bed, or have tried it and stopped, and people with big dogs who like having their dogs on the bed.

I love having my cat and my two dogs share the bed with me. I do not understand the people who happily burble on about how their pets control the bed and determine who can sleep where; it just mystifies me.

What frustrates me about discussions like this is the unchallenged assumption that there is something “wrong” or inferior about small dogs, the owners of small dogs, or both. They observe “bad behavior” from small dogs, and the only question in their minds is whether it’s the dog or the owner who is at fault.

They see my dog’s reactivity in certain circumstances. They don’t see the five years of work I’ve done with her, or the huge progress she’s made over that time, or the boxer that charged us a week or so back.

They don’t ask, “what happened to that dog?” They ask, “Why doesn’t the owner train and socialize her?”

And yet I have never seen the same kind of “What’s wrong with those big dogs and their owners” discussion among owners of small dogs, despite the widespread experience of having problems because of owners of large dogs who certainly don’t appear to have trained their dogs, or who can’t look beyond the ends of their own noses to see that their dog’s “friendly” behavior may be alarming or even actively dangerous to a nine-pound dog. And that, by the way, the small dog is *not crazy, but sensible* to be alarmed when that’s the case.

I would like to ad that yes I hear the same negative comments about small dogs as the rest of you. I am quick to say though, that my childhood small miniature Dachshund was the most versatile dog I have ever encountered. Some of those little dog, I tell you, they are just amazing!! I have never done good/bad generalizations, but it is important information for members of a society to hear that their behavior affects other citizens of that community.

I had a rescue Pom with me for a week and EVERYONE fell madly in love–what a sweet, intelligent, playful, get along with everyone, little dog! With, of course, stuff to work on–like the rest of us.

And by the way anyone who follows Emily Larlham http://www.dogmantics.com/Dogmantics/Home.html would quickly understand that small dogs can be handled with a bit more care and still be fantastic family members as well as amazing tricksters!

Could be something to do with this prevalent idea that small dogs don’t need exercise. I’ve heard people talk about how Jack Russels must be so handy, because you don’t have to walk small dogs.

Add terrier nature into the mix, and you get a disaster. Which is funny, because terriers are eminently trainable and usually able to do the whole ‘ heeling off-lead in all situations’ thing… when they get enough exercise and work.

The ‘friendly big dog’ thing I’ve come across before, when my adolescent lab (now polite) was being obnoxious. “Oh, my dog was being very very bad, your dog just flattened him out of friendliness. How dare he respond by growling.”

Wow, I’ve skimmed over all of these responses because I’ve been on what I thought was both ends of the spectrum. But now I’m not so sure.

My first dog was a 70lb male retired racing greyhound. With him we did all his manner’s training up to CGC and therapy dog because it was a good thing to do, it helped us, our neighbors, him and the therapy work was his chosen “job’ to do.

Yes, he was a “large” dog but as sighthounds go, he curled up quite compactly. And, as a sighthound he had the instinct to chase and he needed to be on lead or in a secure fenced area to keep himself and other animals safe because of his prey drive. He was not cat safe out doors but he was cat “bid able” indoors when he visited our friends.

Our current dog is a female, 30lb hound that is clearly an off-bred dog. She is a former street dog and she could be a village dog from just about anywhere. Medium size, medium brown, medium everything.

She has a good “nose” , good sight, a nice long distance trot, and is fairly dog-reactive (we are working on that) and likes to maximize her resting time if given the option. We have taught her all the same skills as our greyhound and she has more ability for some things, like visual matches and scent games, than he did.

I think she could pass her CGC with a bit more time and if she wanted to do therapy work it would be one on one with children as she delights in playing with children! But that is for the future.

As a medium dog she is different than many of the ends of the spectrum that have been discussed so far. And as a very off-bred dog she is different too. She has 3 true dog friends: a BC, a Aussie, and a greyhound. She preferes the greyhound for indoor and outdoor socialization and the BC for outdoor play. The Aussie is a 9 mo. old and they are still learning to know each other outside.

The one behavior she is allowed that our greyhound was not is that she is allowed, at our discression, to sit next to us on the sofa when we are reading or I am knitting. She must ask and we choose.

Perhaps some of this topic is so “hot” because of pure-bred affiliations and because of the radical differences between tiny and huge and the behaviors that come with breed selection. Breed does not just determine size and coat and color but to some extent behavior — like my greyhound’s prey drive.

As humans we are, possibly, attracted to a breed for its breed behavior as well as size and there’s the rub?

And to stir the pot, here’s a post with comments that expose both ends of the spectrum. Synopsis: An 8-pound chihuahua has been labeled a “dangerous dog” after getting past the owner at the door and “nipping” a teenager that was walking past the house. The owner’s response is that it’s ridiculous to label an 8-pound dog as “dangerous” because anyone should be able to ward off a dog that small. Comments range from “right on!” to “small children have been killed by small dogs, so dangerous is a reasonable description” to “the same rules should apply, regardless of size” to “people shouldn’t HAVE to defend themselves from small dogs”.

I have some questions about difficulties training small dogs. Our 5.5 pound Bolognese is an erratic leash walker and I’d like her to tug forward a little less when we walk, for her sake too. I saw your video about how to teach a dog to heel by offering treats constantly when the dog is at your side. This doesn’t work for us due to her size. I have to lean down to offer the treat, which makes her stop. Or I have to toss the treat on the ground which also makes her stop and put her head down to eat it. Either way, the walking gets interrupted. My second question related to her size is a problem about leaning over and picking her up when we are sitting on the couch. She will come in the room and go up to the couch. She is not strong enough to jump onto it. But when we lean over to pick her up, our body language of bending over her causes her to scurry away. Should I say come, have her touch my hand, then tell her to sit so I can pick her up? I wish it we could just quickly lean over and scoop her up, but again, the “body block” type of movement of us leaning over her causes problems. Thank you. Your book about separation anxiety really helped us.

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About the Author

Patricia B. McConnell, PhD, CAAB is an applied animal behaviorist who has been working with, studying, and writing about dogs for over twenty-five years. She encourages your participation, believing that your voice adds greatly to its value. She enjoys reading every comment, and adds her own responses when she can.

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Patricia is known the world over for her clear and engaging books and DVDs on dog training and canine behavior problems. You can also “meet” Patricia in person on her seminar DVDs, from The Art & Science of Canine Behavior to Treating Dog-Dog Reactivity.